Frequently Asked Questions

Anyone can be a member of ‘Team Caitlin’. It’s a group of people who have been inspired by Caitlin’s amazing achievements in her short life. These people may know Caitlin directly, and may have helped us - her parents - in our time(s) of need. They may never have met Caitlin but have heard about the help being given in her name, or have benefited from her team, and want to join. Anyone who supports our goal of bringing a little bit of happiness to families in dire situations is welcome!

Team Caitlin is less a team, more an ethos. You do not need to be a member of the ‘Team’ to benefit from it. 

Buying a membership to Team Caitlin supports us via a one-off donation, helps us understand the scale of support to plan for the future of the charity, and you get a pin badge to show you’re part of something great!

To be fair, that’s a good question with 2 answers.

Firstly, the £10 membership fee is more funding for us to be able to help families during very difficult times.

Secondly, for Caitlin. We know she’s far from ‘average’ for a child her age but she’s extraordinary in many other ways. We know her life will be, and already is, more challenging that the average child. We want her to know she has a team beside her, doing great things in her name, because she brings a little bit of sunshine wherever she goes.

We offer 4 options:

- Free delivery on orders over £10 (this includes optional extra donations)

- A charge of £2.99 for orders under £10

- Free drop-off to QMC

- Free ‘bring along’ if we are meeting up. To choose this, please select ‘shipping/local delivery address’, which will then give you the option to select ‘bring along’ before confirming your order

Easy - just enter the code written on the front of your voucher into the ‘coupon code’ box at checkout

No.

People from ‘Team Caitlin’ have been immensely helpful, generous, and supportive to our family during Caitlin’s many hospital stays and hard times at home. It’s our aim to pay this kindness forward to other families. 

Neither Caitlin nor Team Caitlin receives any financial or material benefit from the charity. The only benefit we receive is the satisfaction of helping families in similar situations to ours.

We have changed our process for requesting help. 

Previously families could request time out via the Team Caitlin shop. The Trustees consider this is not the most inclusive approach and risks excluding families who cannot access the store; barriers may include not understanding English, limited access to technology, limitations in written communication, or simply not having the capacity to complete another task whilst being overwhelmed by their situation.

These vulnerable families are the ones which Team Caitlin exists to help most, therefore we have moved to a professional referral model.

Absolutely yes - just visit our store to order. Please note our allocation policy.

We absolutely hear you. 

We were in the very fortunate position that we didn’t have to worry about the financial element of having an evening together when Caitlin was in hospital, but we (mainly I!) felt phenomenally guilty at the idea of leaving Caitlin in NICU, or PICU, or a surgical ward. At times I felt like I needed to be given a ‘permission slip’ to leave, and the nurses who made me feel able to go were my favourite.

So, if you also need a permission slip: I’m giving it to you right now. Go and enjoy some time out of the hospital prison!

As we are such a small charity, unfortunately we are only able to work with families who have a child as a QMC inpatient, or have a home address in the following postcodes:

NG1

NG2

NG3

NG4

NG5

NG6

NG7

NG8

NG9

NG10

NG11

NG12

NG13

NG14

NG15

NG16

LE12

As we grow, we hope we can offer support to more people.

Yes, please make a referral to us but please note families must consent to this.

Yes, we are registered with the Charity Commission and our charity number is 1204631.