The parents of Penryn toddler William Mead, who tragically died from sepsis weeks after his first birthday, have collected a cheque for £4,000 which had been raised by staff at Kwik Fit in the youngster's memory.

The money has gone to William's Legacy, which was set up through the UK Sepsis Trust to help raise awareness of the condition following the child's death in December 2014. A report into William's death revealed 16 failures by NHS staff to spot just how ill he was and his parents, Melissa and Paul are determined no-one else should go through what they have endured.

Teams at Kwik Fit across the South West chose to support Melissa and Paul last year after Melissa contacted them asking for help in making a car safe and road legal so she could give it to a mum she had met at hospital. Kwik Fit repaired the car free of charge and then decided to raise money for William's Legacy too. Collection tins were placed across 96 of its centres, raffle tickets were sold for the chance to win a free MOT or service and staff also washed customers’ cars on weekends.

Melissa, who is expecting her second child in October, said: “I can’t thank Kwik Fit enough for all their help and support over the last 12 months. I first asked them to help me get a car back on the road so I could give it to one of the other mums I met while William was in hospital. The team was amazing in helping with the car and then they decided to raise money for the charity and help me raise awareness of this horrific condition.

“I would like to thank the whole Kwik Fit team for their efforts and tremendous sum they have raised. This money will really make a difference and allow the charity to continue informing the public about sepsis and deliver training for doctors to be more aware of it and the protocol for dealing with it.

“As a family, we just hope that William can change the lives of others like he changed ours. We don’t want our little boy to have died in vain and hope to continue breaking new ground regarding sepsis so that others can be saved.”

Karl Billington, Kwik Fit’s divisional director for the South West, added: “Melissa inspired us all with her story the second she got in touch. The fact that she was focused on helping others, despite having only recently experienced the most awful loss imaginable, is incredible.

“The statistics are truly shocking and we wanted to raise money to assist Melissa with spreading the message about the dangers of sepsis. Sepsis UK is a fantastic charity and does incredible work across the country.

“The whole team really got behind this fundraising drive and we are delighted to donate £4,000 to Sepsis UK in memory of William. We also give huge thanks to our customers across the region for their support and very generous donations.”

For further information or to make a donation to William’s Legacy visit justgiving.com/williamoscarmead.