About Us
The Sick Children's Trust was founded in 1982 by two paediatric specialists Dr Jon Pritchard and Professor James Malpas. They believed that having parents on hand during hospital treatment benefited a child's recovery.
Rainbow House, our first Home from Home, opened its doors to families with children undergoing treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1984.
Today we have seven Homes from Home at major hospitals around the country, each providing clean comfortable accommodation for families with seriously ill children.
There is a growing demand for our 'Homes from Home' as children must increasingly travel long distances to get the specialist treatment they need. To date we have helped more than 30,000 families.
To run our 'Homes from Home' we rely entirely on voluntary donations and we need to raise at least £800,000 every year to keep them open so please do get involved and help us make a real difference to the lives of the families we support.
The President of The Sick Children's Trust is Michael Crawford OBE who has provided tremendous support for over 20 years. Michael became President in March 1987 and has become a great friend. One of our Homes from Home, Crawford House in Newcastle, is named in his honour.
Michael says: "It has been a huge honour to play a part in the growth of The Sick Children's Trust. The energy which the charity injects into new projects is remarkable. They never cease to look for new ways in which they can support families and help keep them together at such vulnerable times. When a child faces a life-threatening illness it is essential to their recovery that they are surrounded by their whole family."
Our Chairman is Stephen Catlin. Stephen has been involved for several years and is not only personally involved; his company, Catlin Underwriting, is now one of our most loyal corporate supporters.
Stephen says: "As well as keeping families together, our Homes help alleviate the emotional and financial strains of being away from home.
