It’s been 4 years since we first presented Gold For Kids to the public at the Chief Dental Office in Birmingham.

We are now seeing precious metals come from clinics all over the UK.

However most recently we were excited to receive our first ever patient-led gold crown donation. Martin from Lichfield contacted us direct after discovering his dental practice weren’t aware they could donate the crown for a good cause.

He said he originally wanted the money to go to the Ukraine appeals but couldn’t find anywhere that could process it for him. So after some Googling, he found us and explained to us that he chose Gold For Kids as his late mum held the NSPCC close to her heart and even donated to them out of her pension fund.

We emailed Martin to thank him for his thoughtfulness and he told us losing their mum during Covid was a very difficult time for all his family “When we had the funeral near Lichfield due to covid restrictions we were limited to 10 people and this was really, really hard for us as a family.”

We were intrigued to read all about her life and how it was so poignant for Martin to choose children’s charities to support in his mum’s name.

It turns out she had 15 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren and 3 great, great, grandchildren!.. and even devoted to children way beyond her huge family. What a thoughtful lady she was too!

As a tribute to Audrey Lee and to thank her son for sending in his crown, here are a few words about her, what an interesting life she led!

“ In memory of our mum, Audrey Mary Lee. She was a mother to seven children, fifteen grandchildren, twenty-two great grandchildren and three great- great grandchildren. Audrey’s/Mum’s mother was called Florence and her dad was called Douglas. Douglas was a well-known newspaper reporter who travelled around a lot for his job. Audrey has two younger sisters and a younger brother. Audrey was born in Berkshire in July 1926 but moved house many times when she was young because of her father’s occupation. Our mum told us she attended 14 different schools as a younger child ! She had her first job working in a glove factory in Taunton at the age of 14. Many years later moving on down to Plymouth, Devon. 

Mum and her late husband Arthur were married near Plymouth in 1949 and over a number of years all their seven children were born in Plymouth, Devon. Mum and Arthur were part of what was called ‘The Greatest Generation’. Mum brought up our family while Dad was serving in the Royal Navy. He served in WWII on North Atlantic & Arctic Convoys, sinking the German battleship Bismark on May 27 1941, and also served for the UN in the Korean War.

Dad/Arthur was away from home for many months during our early years and it is hard to imagine how hard it would have been for both of them. Mum was always interested in family and grandchildren. There was always a warm welcome to family and visitors. Mum also was not hugely practical, and had a healthy disregard for housework, a passing swipe with a tissue being her weapon of choice. Books, reading and the Guardian crosswords were important to her, as were political ideas, and I think mum and dad inspired all of us to be curious, inquiring and engaged in the world in our own ways. Mum outlived dad, Arthur by over 20 years, she was waited on, hand and foot by people around her. Mum was a good mother, grandmother, and will be sadly missed by all.

Thanks so much Martin for your thoughtful donation in memory of your dear mum.

We continue to raise awareness of our charity through social media and amongst the dental community. Pooling the small amounts of waste from the dental industry along with unwanted or old gold jewellery, our aim is to change the thinking of dentists in the UK and we make a real difference to children in poverty.