Short break care for children and young people. This can be day care or overnight stays both during the week and at weekends. We also take children for crisis care for social or health reasons and for transition from hospital to home. This may include children who have undergone major surgery and are unable to go directly home.
TOTS (Together On TuesdayS and ThursdayS) are groups for parents/carers of pre-school children who have disabilities, additional or complex needs and their siblings. We offer a wide range of play activities that includes singing, sensory and messy play. Carers can use and borrow specialist toys, enjoy a coffee and a chat and speak with our Counsellor. A multi-sensory room is available for the children’s use and a qualified Rejuvanessence® Therapist provides pamper sessions at our Woodford Green venue.
There are two venues:
The White House at Woodford Green on Tuesdays.
Thackeray Drive Children’s Centre Ilford, Essex, RM6 4RE where sessions are fortnightly on Thursdays.
Both sessions run from 10am to 12 noon.
Toy Home Loan, is a free lending service of specialist toys and equipment for children with additional needs to use in the home. These toys can be used to stimulate movement, communication, learning and development. Toys can be borrowed for up to three months. Our catalogue can be emailed and the toys delivered to you.
Our community play specialist provides stimulation and fun for the children who access our services. This includes sensory, stimulating and therapeutic play tailored to each child’s individual needs, within a family’s own home.
Buddies is a regular support group for siblings where they can meet, have fun and enjoy outings and workshops together. Siblings can find it hard to deal with their feelings about the illness of a brother or sister and individual support is offered for children who need extra support at difficult times.
Music and Movement Therapy brings out our natural ability to appreciate and respond to music. Our therapist likes to have fun with a therapeutic session using music and movement. A great opportunity for parents and children to participate in a creative experience at Haven House every Tuesday afternoon.
A youth club is held at the Soul Project (in Walthamstow) where young people between the ages of 11 and 19 years old can enjoy the sensory room, the computers and the game consoles. Younger siblings are welcome to join in the fun with a soft play area and a variety of activities provided for them. Parents and carers are able to stay and enjoy some refreshments. Haven House Care staff are in attendance, while the Soul Project staff provide stories and adventures.
Teenage weekend packages for 11-19 year olds. These start with Friday evening at the Soul Project, then back to Haven House for a weekend sleepover. Activities over the weekend can include a visit to the local cinema, swimming, pampering for the girls, gym sessions or perhaps even a meal out.
Coffee Mornings (for parents and carers) Once a month parents/carers can get together on a Tuesday morning for some mutual support and fun together with our Therapist.
When a child or young person is reaching the end of their life it is important that they are provided with as many choices as possible which will include expert medical care and an appropriate and dignified environment. Our staff team is able to accommodate the family and to facilitate friends visiting as requested.
After a child’s death we continue to support the family as needed. Our Butterfly Suite has been planned as a private space for family and friends to come and grieve before the funeral.
We also hold a Memory Day service each summer and a Light up a Life ceremony in December to which all families are invited.
It is always helpful to hear the views of families who use Haven House services. An independent market research company has helped us to develop an on-line survey that is quick and easy to use. It only takes a couple of minutes and it means families can give us feedback soon after using the services. This helps us to make services more responsive.
Just follow this link to complete the survey.
http://www.capitalblue.co.uk/survey/havenhouse
Alternatively, a hard copy of the survey can be obtained from the Care Administrator on 020 8506 5513 or email
care@havenhouse.org.uk
We give the highest priority to safe guarding all of the children who use any of the services offered at Haven House.
As a minimum, all of our staff and volunteers, who have direct contact with children, have enhanced CRB checks and are provided with mandatory safe guarding training at an appropriate level to ensure that they are aware of safe guarding issues and know how to respond to concerns. The new vetting and barring scheme will be introduced later this year - in line with government recommendations.
If you have any concerns about the safety of children involved with Haven House please contact: Nora Rochester, Clinical Nurse Manager on 020 8506 5513 or email
norarochester@havenhouse.org.uk
Click here to download our Safeguarding Children Policy.
We are a special place for special children. We care for children between the ages of 0 to 19 who have life-limiting conditions and who are unlikely to reach adulthood. We help families by providing a range of services that include day, short break and end of life care, together with therapeutic play in the community. Families can find the support they need when they need it most at no cost to themselves. We look after children and their families in Central and North East London and West Essex.
Haven House Children's Hospice is based at The White House, Mallinson Park, High Road, Woodford Green IG8 9LB. The White House was built in 1906 and is in a beautifully peaceful and quiet woodland setting.
to take a virtual tour.
Despite this rural setting we are ideally located for transport links. Woodford station on the Central Line is close by and we have easy access from the North Circular Road, M11 and M25.
for a map and directions
Our services are carefully planned to meet the needs of life-limited boys and girls, their families and their brothers and sisters. Our specialist team provides a range of services for children and young people between the ages of 0-19 years who fit our criteria.
to see our Criteria.
For further details please contact Care Administration -
Email:
Contact a Family - Directory of Specific Conditions and Rare Disorders
This website has lots of information on specific conditions and rare disorders in children and young people including details of support networks.
http://www.cafamily.org.uk/Idx/m.html
Great Ormond Street Hospital fact sheets
Provides more than 300 fact sheets covering a wide-range of conditions, treatments and medications. All have been written by health professionals and are regularly updated to ensure they are current.
http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/gosh_families/information_sheets/index.html
Whizz-Kidz
Whizz-Kidz provides specialised mobility transport for children, as well as training, information and advice.
http://www.whizz-kidz.org.uk/Page.asp
The Child Bereavement Trust
This organisation works to help bereaved families.
http://www.childbereavement.org.uk
Caring For Someone
This government site brings together information on public services, and includes sections health services, caring for a child or adult and disability.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/CaringForSomeone/fs/en
Children’s Hospices UK
Children's Hospices UK is the national charity that gives voice and support to all children's hospice services. It promotes care development, promotes awareness of children's hospices, carries out fundraising for them and campaigns and lobbies on their behalf.
http://www.childhospice.org.uk
Association for Children with a Life-Threatening or Terminal Conditions (ACT)
ACT is the UK wide charity working to achieve the best possible quality of life and care for every child and young person who is not expected to reach adulthood. ACT campaigns for improved provision of children's palliative care services, works with professionals to support the delivery of the best care possible and informs families and empowers them to have a voice in the development of the services and policies that affect them.
http://www.act.org.uk
Help the Hospices
Help the Hospices is the national charity for the hospice movement and provides information and advice on both adults’ and children's hospices.
http://www.helpthehospices.org.uk
Sibs
Sibs is the UK organisation for brothers and sisters of disabled children and adults.
http://www.sibs.org.uk
The ACT categories of life-limiting and life threatening conditions (criteria for referral to Haven House)
ACT (2009) recognises that four broad groups of life threatening and life limiting conditions may be delineated. Categorisation is not easy and the examples used below are not exclusive. Diagnosis is only part of the process: the spectrum of the disease, severity of the disease and the subsequent complications as well as the needs of and the impact on the child and the family, need to be taken into account.
These four categories outline the four types of illness trajectory which will require children’s palliative care provision. The categorisation is important for the purpose of planning and needs assessment. The need for palliative care should always be assessed on an individual basis.
Group 1
Life- threatening conditions for which curative treatment may be feasible but can fail
Access to palliative care services may be necessary when treatment fails or during an acute crisis, irrespective of the duration of the threat to life. On reaching long term remission or following successful curative treatment there is no longer a need for palliative care services.
(Examples: cancer, irreversible organ failures of heart, liver or kidney)
Group 2
Conditions where premature death is inevitable
There may be long periods of intensive treatment aimed at prolonging life and allowing participation in normal childhood activities.
(Examples: cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy)
Group 3
Progressive conditions without curative treatment options
Treatment is exclusively palliative and may commonly extend over many years.
Examples (: Battens disease, mucopolysaccharidosis
Group 4
Irreversible but non-progressive conditions causing severe disability leading to susceptibility to health complications and likelihood of premature death
(Examples: severe cerebral palsy, neurodegeneration, and multiple disabilities e.g.: following brain or spinal cord injury, complex health needs, high risk of an unpredictable life threatening event or episode.
Additional criteria for children within category 4
Definition of Group 4 conditions:
Irreversible, but non-progressive conditions, causing severe disability leading to susceptibility to health complications that are likely to cause premature death. These include acquired neurodisability such as cerebral palsy, birth injury and those who suffer an insult following illnesses such as meningitis, encephalitis or head injury. Children/young people being referred under this category need to fulfil at least 3 of the following criteria:
- Total body involvement with poor head control
- Severe scoliosis that compromises respiratory function
- Ongoing need for interventions to maintain respirations e.g. ventilatory support, oxygen therapy
- Regular apnoeic episodes
- Poorly controlled seizures despite optimum treatment
- Frequent unplanned hospital admissions, please state number of admissions, reason and length of stays
- Underlying complex nutritional condition which requires accurate assessment, without which would be life threatening.
Download our Criteria Referral Form
