By TOM WALLING tom.walling@hexham-courant.co.uk

Last updated 09:54, Friday, 22 August 2008

THE JOSIE Grove Dragonfly fund received welcome boost of a £5,000 cheque last week thanks to Tynedale Beer Festival.

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Bumper donation: From the left are Lions treasurer Jeff Williams, president Hugh Williamson, Janet Hume from the air ambulance and beer festival Colin McGregor.

Her father Cliff flew back from Thailand to accept the money.

Josie captured the hearts of Courant readers with her bravery and dignity in her battle against leukaemia.

Before she died, she set up a charity dedicated to helping other young people in a similar situation to hers.

Although the Groves lived in Thailand, they returned to Britain for treatment after Josie’s diagnosis.

She spent her last months in Corbridge at her aunt’s house, being treated in Newcastle.

Josie’s Dragonfly charity gives £500 a time to terminal cancer patients recommended by Macmillan Cancer Support nurses.

“Josie was given some money when she was diagnosed terminal and it made a massive difference,” said Cliff.

“Teenagers are stripped of their dignity during treatment and illness, and they can’t earn money on their own.

“The money is just given to them, and they can do what they like with it.”

Recipients have done a wide variety of things with their gifts, from buying presents for family and friends to throwing parties and even putting it towards weddings.

One young mother wanted the money so she could buy a bed in which to sleep with her sick child.

The beauty of Josie’s charity is the speed with which gifts can be sent out.

The trustees of Josie’s Dragonfly are Cliff and Jacqui, her parents, and a family friend June Neocleous.

They aren’t beholden to a board or executive, so they can make instant decisions.

“The effect of these gifts on the kids is huge,” said Cliff.

The other part of what the charity strives to do is to give thousands of pounds of arts and crafts equipment to the 23 children’s cancer hospitals in Britain.

“Having these materials can make the difference between having a good or a bad day,” said Cliff.

“It makes a massive difference for cancer patients to be able to play with their young siblings.”

The money Cliff accepted last week was raised during the Tynedale Beer Festival this year.

Jim Clancy, a Wylam businessman, was moved by Josie’s situation and decided after her memorial service he wanted to do something to keep her charity in people’s minds.

Two years ago, in conjunction with Wylam Brewery, he had the idea of making a beer named after Josie, and Josie’s Dragonfly Ale was born.

Jim sponsored the beer, putting up the money to have it made, and it proved a hit at the festival, selling out all 18 gallons almost within a day.

Jim said: “It was my way, with my wife Mandy, of keeping Josie’s Dragonfly in the public eye and helping the charity.”

This year Tynedale Lions decided that Josie’s Dragonfly Trust would be one of the two main beneficiaries of the festival. It donated £5,000 to both the trust and the Great North Air Ambulance.

The money received by the trust will cover what the charity needs for one of the hospitals for a year.

At the moment the trustees work with four hospitals when giving the individual gifts, but they want to be able to help all 23.

Towards that end Cliff’s jewellery firm makes bracelets, pendants and other pieces with a dragonfly theme, and for each item sold £5 is donated to the charity.

A side-benefit of the charity has been the help it has given Cliff and Jacqui in recovering from their terrible loss.

The family has slowly adjusted. The children, Freddie (15) and Libby (13) are back at international school and fitting in well. The third child, Charlie, is now two-and-a-half.

By a strange quirk of fate, Charlie was born on Josie’s birthday.

In Thai mythology this means he was sent to replace her, so when they discovered his due birth date, the Groves’ had him induced a little early to avoid the inauspicious omen.

However, he refused to emerge until the day coincidence decreed he should.

Josie’s Dragonfly Trust gets its name from an Oriental fable about death. It tells us we’re all like dragonfly larva, living underwater.

Once out of the water, we are transformed into beautiful dragonflies, and although we can look down and see those we left behind, they can’t see us.

However, there’s no need to be sad because we know one day they will join us above the water.

The inspiration this gave Josie to set up her charity has comforted the Groves through their darkest times.

To find out more, and donate to the charity, visit www.josiesdragonfly.org.