Last year taught us all that the time we spend together with family at Christmas is precious. Christmas looks different for families with a seriously ill child in hospital, but with your support they can still spend it together by staying in our ‘Homes from Home’.
This Christmas we want to keep families together during the festive period and we can only do this with your donations. We also want families to make the most the time that they can spend together this Christmas, which is why we’ve created our ’12 Days of Togetherness’. Download your free activity booklet for your family to complete together and raise some funds for us along the way.
It costs £40 a night to support a family in a ‘Home from Home’. £40 gives a family much more than a roof over their head when their child is in hospital – it also gives them someone to talk to and a calm place to rest with their family when they really need it.
Our shop sales have now closed for 2021. A big thank you to everyone who has sponsored a bauble this year, you helped to decorate our ‘Homes from Home’ for Christmas and brought some cheer to families staying with us. You can see all the of the sponsored baubles here.
Our shop sales have now closed for 2021. A big thank you to everyone who has purchased a virtual gift this year, you’ve helped to keep families together this Christmas.
This Christmas we are running our ‘Gift an Hour’ programme, where employees can gift an hour of their pay to a family with a seriously ill child in hospital. To find out more please email our friendly corporate team and they will be able to provide you with everything that you need.
“Twelve months ago one of our baby twin boys, Joshua, suddenly stopped feeding during the night. We were told to take him straight to A&E, where he was rushed to a children’s ward. By this point, he had stopped breathing. It was frantic and terrifying. We didn’t know what was going on but we knew that Joshua was seriously ill and that we couldn’t possibly leave him. Joshua was transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital by the Embrace team.
I spent three sleepless nights in a chair by Joshua’s hospital bedside while my wife Adele looked after Edward, Joshua’s twin, and his big brother William at our home. After a few days, I was given a place to stay in Magnolia House, a ‘Home from Home’ run by The Sick Children’s Trust.
As soon as the pandemic restrictions allowed, Adele and Edward joined Joshua and I. We had been separated for two long, difficult weeks. Magnolia House changed our whole world by allowing us to be together by Joshua’s bedside on his road to recovery.
Thanks to Magnolia House and The Sick Children’s Trust we were able to wake up on Christmas Day with Edward and spend time on the ward with Joshua. We then travelled home to see William open his presents from Father Christmas and spend time together with Edward before going back to Sheffield to tuck Joshua in and kiss him goodnight.”
Parents say that without us, they would have to travel for an average of 90 minutes to get from their home to their poorly child’s bedside.
We asked parents who have stayed in our ‘Homes from Home’ what they would have done if we didn’t exist, and one parent recently answered “I would have slept in the uncomfortable chair in intensive care and my husband in the car in the hospital car park. We would have rather slept on the floor than leave our daughter on her own.”
With hotel costs at a premium over Christmas, many families would struggle to fund an unexpected stay. Of the families who told us they had financial concerns before staying in our ‘Homes from Home’, 93% said staying in one of our ‘Homes from Home’ helped to alleviate these concerns.
Our ’12 days of Togetherness’ activity book is now available to download. We hope you enjoy doing some of our festive activities together this year. Before you start, consider whether you’d be able to help keep a family together this Christmas so that they can spend time together.
