Bondholders urged to chip in for superhero Sam

The Binary Bar and Restaurant is set to host a casino night to help a Derby mum raise money for research into the catastrophic condition which took the life of her five-year-old son.

Rachel Liew has organised the event with the Mickleover venue to coincide with what would have been her son Sam’s ninth birthday.

Sam was a vibrant and loving little boy when his life was tragically cut short by Febrile Infection-Related Epilepsy Syndrome (FIRES), a rare and catastrophic, sudden onset form of epilepsy that typically affects previously healthy children and adolescents.

Rachel set up the charity Sam’s Superheroes Foundation, a registered charity, in his memory and has so far raised more than £25,000 towards her £50,000 target which, will be used to fund medical research into the condition.

The casino and fundraising dinner, which will take place on 13 March, is being run with support from Rachel’s colleagues at Grosvenor Casinos, who are providing gaming tables and a skilled dealing team to ensure the evening is a professional and enjoyable experience.

As well as a two-course dinner, there will be blackjack and roulette with prizes including a luxury trip to London for four people with travel, hotel stay and dinner at one of Grosvenor Casinos top venues worth over £1,000.

Rachel said: “I am hugely grateful to the teams at the Binary and Grosvenor Casinos for their support with this event, which will be expertly run and promises to be a lot of fun.

“Every guest will be able to play with fun casino chips to win an array of absolutely brilliant prizes, which have all been donated to us, so we are very lucky.

“March is a difficult month for us – it would have been Sam’s birthday on March 8 and it’s also Mother’s Day which is hard for many people – so the casino night will be a welcome distraction.

“I hope that the Binary will be full of superheroes like Sam, helping us to reach our fundraising target.

“Let’s make Sam one of the last children to lose their life to this devastating disease.”

Last year, Rachel organised a charity scooter ride from Birmingham to Derby to kickstart her fundraising campaign and she hopes the casino evening will help increase funds for research.

Since Sam’s death in 2021 Rachel has been sharing his FIRES story with doctors, researchers and the wider community to raise awareness and support the critical need for research.

In 2023, she was a guest speaker at the NORSE Institute’s International Conference, which was founded by Nora Wong who lost her son from FIRES in 2013. The NORSE Institute is the leading global expert on FIRES.

Last year, she shared Sam’s story at the UK’s Epilepsy Research Institute’s reception in London where she also introduced the dedicated researchers leading the very first UK FIRES Research study.

Tickets for the fun casino and fundraising dinner cost £49.99, which includes a welcome drink, casino chips, a two-course meal and a goody bag. There will also be a raffle, as well as live music from local singer Steve Bloor.

To purchase tickets visit https://binarybarandrestaurant.co.uk/menus/.