Haven House Children’s Hospice, an Essex-based charity has launched a brand-new campaign to highlight the vital role it plays in supporting children and families living with a life-limiting condition. 

The campaign – called ‘What could you not live without’ – focuses on feedback from families that say Haven House is a lifeline for them when caring for a child with a serious illness. 

In a recent survey, conducted by the hospice, 92% of families said that Haven House improves the quality of their child’s life with one parent going on to express that the hospice is a ‘breath of fresh air when you can sometimes feel you are suffocating…it is a lifeline for our family.’

The hospice, in Woodford Green, provides; day care, over-night stays, end of life care, bereavement support, as well as life enriching activities such as sensory play, music therapy and physiotherapy to seriously ill children and their families. 

Eileen White, Haven House’s Director of Care, said: “When a child is diagnosed with a serious life-limiting condition, the whole family is thrown into turmoil. We are here to support them through these difficult times.Haven House offers an extraordinary blanket of care and compassion that wraps around the whole family.  

 

“The parents we support often tell us that we are their lifeline, and that they don't know where they'd be without us. Parents often provide round-the-clock care with little sleep for both them and their child. One mother described her son being awake for 20 hours a day, with another having to monitor his child’s breathing every hour in case she needed oxygen or was at risk of choking.

 

“Our skilled nursing team care for children in the hospice and at home, giving parents a break. Anything from a few hours or a full day away from caring helps parents stay well and feel better able to cope.”

The campaign, which has been launched to coincide with Children’s Hospice Week, encourages people to think about the one thing that they could not live without. For many this could be simple things such as chocolate, mobile phones or football. 

For the families of Haven House the answer is something quite different - it's the essential care that the hospice provides. 

The hospice is calling on supporters – both existing and those new to the cause – to help support its work so that it can continue giving children and their families the support they so desperately need.

 

To find out more visit: https://www.havenhouse.org.uk/appeal/summerappeal