Company Name: |
Grace House Sunderland |
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Unit Number: |
F7 |
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Tel: |
0191 516 (6302) |
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Profile: |
A MUCH NEEDED Help us to make every precious minute count for hundreds of terminally ill children and their families in the North East THE NEED As you read this, there are probably around 1,200 families in the North East region coping with the most devastating news any parent can hear. Their much loved child will not live to be an adult. For some, death will come in weeks, for others it may be some years. Whatever time left is precious, and a children's hospice can help make the most of that time. Providing expert medical help and professional care, but also giving emotional support and practical help. Allowing the whole family to enjoy the good days and share the bad ones… At present the North East has the lowest number of hospice beds for children in the whole country. Four on Teesside, two in Cumbria and eight in Newcastle. Woefully too few to meet the needs of those 1200 families. There are families who have to travel to Scotland or Yorkshire for hospice care. Wearside has no specific hospice provision at all to meet the needs of these special children and families. Day to day living, family life, holidays and outings are restricted. The need for 24-hour care can be an exhausting and lonely existence. Sibling's needs may have to be pushed to one side. Relationships can crumble under the strain. THE AIM GRACE HOUSE will provide a home from home for very sick children, support for their siblings and parents, and respite and terminal care. A team of dedicated professionals offering the most up to date medical skills and palliative care. Support that is geared to the needs of the whole family, physical and emotional. Help that will be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year….continuing into bereavement for as long as is needed. The purpose built hospice will be a small, self-contained unit in or around the Sunderland area, with bright homely rooms for children and accommodation for whole families. It will provide a much needed addition to existing services. Giving parents a break, a chance to share their time with other children in the family as well as the gravely ill. A chance to talk about their fears and complex emotions, facing up to a future which can never be what they had hoped. THE TARGET To build, equip, and run Grace House for its first year, we need to raise £5 million pounds. The challenge is huge, but so is the need. The news that a child has a terminal illness is only the beginning of the process of bereavement. Grace house will support families whilst they travel along this heartbreaking road, sharing and creating happy memories and providing practical and emotional support where dreams and expectations are shattered. We cannot change the outcome, but we can all help to make the journey just a little bit easier by providing the very best care wherever and whenever it is needed along the way. That is what we believe these special children and their families deserve. And that is what Grace House will provide for families throughout the North East, with the generous support and fund-raising help of thousands of other families. We need donations, large and small, to meet the challenge ahead. Please spare a little time and money to make Grace House a reality. If you feel you can help in any way, or would like more information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
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