Providing support
providing support
Providing support

We understand that every family’s situation is different and we aim to respond to their individual needs by giving meaningful help when it is needed. In addition to working to establish the holiday home, the Trust aims to take some of the stress out of critical situations and resolve specific problems by offering practical support to families with a seriously-ill child. We understand that every family’s situation is different and we aim to respond to their individual needs by giving meaningful help when it is needed.

Just some of the many ways that we have been able to assist families in the past include:

  • refurbishing and redecorating the isolation rooms in the children’s unit at a local hospital, making hospital stays during trying times a little more bearable

  • arranging transport to hospital for families without a car

  • resolving a visa complication that enabled a family to enjoy one last holiday together with their terminally-ill daughter

  • contributing towards the cost of airlifting a child to Germany for life-saving treatment

  • transporting a terminally-ill child to a respite camp for a much-needed break after surgery

  • supporting siblings while parents are in hospital with the sick child

  • alleviating pressure by helping families with chores, including supermarket shopping, gardening and household maintenance

  • providing a hire car to enable a family to get their child to hospital for treatments when their own vehicle was off the road

We also offer wide-reaching support through:

  • funding psychologists’ posts at two oncology (cancer) units, giving families access to psycho-social support and advice

  • providing a mobile library service which gives parents, siblings and patients access to a range of literature from relevant children’s stories to illness-specific medical information

  • offering pampering sessions in hospital for tired mums - the role of the primary carer is a stressful one and their wellbeing is crucial to that of their child

  • running a bereavement support self-help group and hosting an annual service of remembrance and thanksgiving