Haven House Children’s Hospice has successfully competed against more than 1,400 organisations in 85 countries to secure three years of funding from new US grant maker Epic Foundation with a first instalment of £24,300.

The grant is unrestricted, which means it can be used to cover the core costs of Haven House in Woodford Green. It will help the hospice with its strategic aim of increasing the number of children that it supports in North and North East London, West Essex and East Hertfordshire to 500 per year by the end of the decade.

The achievement is all the more remarkable as just 20 organisations were chosen by the Foundation which was founded by US-based entrepreneur and philanthropist Alexandre Mars in 2014.

Epic began its selection process for beneficiaries of its fund in early 2015 seeking to attract NGOs from around the world working with children and young people in the fields of health, education, human rights and economic empowerment.

After an extensive 6-month vetting process - during which applications from more than 1,400 organisations in 85 countries were assessed - just 20 were chosen for the first Epic Foundation portfolio. Haven House was one of only four European organisations to have been selected.

The charity was awarded the grant after it impressed Epic Foundation with its expansion plans. Supporting more children will mean it will cost £5 million a year to run the hospice by 2020. Haven House receives around a quarter of its funding from government – the rest it has to raise itself.

‎Alexandre Mars, founder and CEO at Epic Foundation, said: “We are proud and delighted to include Haven House Children’s Hospice as part of our first Epic Foundation portfolio. We value organisations that are committed to protecting and empowering young people through health and education. Haven House is a remarkable charity that is supporting the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in society and enhancing the way paediatric palliative care is delivered.”

Mike Palfreman, Chief Executive of Haven House, said: “To successfully compete with more than 1,400 organisations in 85 countries for this incredibly generous grant from Epic Foundation is a fantastic achievement for Haven House. The grant will help provide a firm financial base for us to increase the number of life-limited children that we support as part of our Vision 2020 strategy.”

Haven House relies on the generosity of business partners to raise funds for life-limited children and their families. If you would like to support our work please visit our corporate giving page.