Vision, Mission, Values

Vision
The best possible life for every baby, child and young person with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition and their families, who live in our local communities.

Mission
To provide the highest quality palliative and holistic care services to babies, children and young people and their families in our local communities. Working in partnership we will deliver these services when needed and in families’ preferred place of care.

Values
In partnership with our staff, trustees and service users we have refreshed our core values and behaviours. This forms the framework for how we deliver our services.

By making a personal commitment to live by these values every day, as an organisation we can ensure our service continues to meet and exceed the expectations of all our service users.

Respectful
Recognising that everyone is an individual and treating others as they would expect to be treated

Safe
Creating a positive learning environment and doing everything to ensure our services and environment are as safe as possible

Compassionate
Showing warmth and empathy in the most difficult of circumstances by creating an environment where our children and families can create lasting memories

Professional
Acting with integrity and honesty, striving for excellence and being accountable for our actions

Read about our families' experiences of using Haven House services.

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The past

Haven House Children's Hospice was first conceived in the early 1990s, as the brainchild of Sue Irwin, a registered nurse and health visitor, who with friends and colleagues founded the charity to provide care to life-limited children and their families at no cost to them.

Haven House supports local children and families, from birth, who are seriously ill and have life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. 

Like many community hospices at that time, the initial plan had been to raise enough funds locally to create a purpose-built children's hospice. However after several years of fundraising, Sue was alerted to the Mallinson Estate, on the borders of Essex and North East London. Through the support and dedication of Sue's friends and early Haven House supporters in 2000 we acquired a 99-year lease on The White House, a locally-listed former family home set in four acres of protected woodland.

We are incredibly grateful to our Life Presidents for their support during this time. 

The first service for children, our Toy Home Loan service, began in 2001 while the committee continued to fundraise to enable the building to be transformed into premises suitable for children with complex health needs.

Learn more about the history of the estate by reading A brief history of The White House & Mallinson Family (PDF 4.2mb).

The present

Today, Haven House has supported hundreds of families, looking after children and young people, from birth, who have life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.

Residential and community services extend across North and North East London, West Essex including respite and end-of-life care.

In the hospice children benefit from play activities as well as day and overnight stays. Through the Holistic Care Centre, children can access a range of therapies, including music therapy, physiotherapy and therapeutic yoga.

Families can also take advantage of support groups for mums and dads and siblings (Buddies) as well as complementary therapies designed to reduce stress and anxiety.

In our grounds there is a tranquil sensory garden surrounded by many acres of beautiful woodland.

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Our services

Referrals to our services are accepted based on ACT (now Together for Short Lives) 1-4 criteria and we are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

To support families we rely on a number of good relationships with our statutory partners including the NHS and local authority commissioners; and in recent years, effort has been focused on developing awareness of the hospice in the local area to increase voluntary donations.