A £5 million fundraising appeal has been launched to transform children’s hospice care across the West Midlands as demand reaches record levels.
The ambitious campaign from Acorns Children’s Hospice aims to help more families access expert care when and where they need it most, bringing support closer to home and giving seriously-ill children more time to be kids.
Acorns Time Machine is the charity’s biggest fundraising campaign ever. Running over the next three years, it will fund the specialist care and support that helps children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, and their families, make the most of the time they have together.
Trevor Johnson, Chief Executive of Acorns Children’s Hospice, said: “Across the West Midlands, families caring for children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions are under extraordinary pressure.
“Too many are spending precious time as carers rather than parents, and as patients rather than children. We want to change that.
“Acorns Time Machine is our bold vision for a new kind of care bringing the right support to children and families wherever they are and whenever they need it, so they can access expert care sooner, in the places that feel safest and at the moments that matter most.
“We can’t add more time to a child’s life, but we can help add more childhood to the time they have.”
A study led by Professor Lorna Fraser* at the University of York shows that more than 11,000 children are living with complex medical needs across the West Midlands.
Advances in medicine mean more children are living longer with increasingly complex conditions, changing the way children’s hospice care supports families. At the same time, babies who once would not have survived pregnancy or birth are now living for precious hours, days or weeks, creating moments families never expected to have.
“We want to be there for them,” Trevor said. “At Acorns, we’re proud to care for more than 1,000 families every year. But so many more need us. Acorns Time Machine is about making that possible. It means taking our hospice care to more families, reducing long, emotionally and financially draining journeys.
“It means being there at the point of need, offering reassurance when things feel uncertain, guidance when symptoms change and joined-up support that helps prevent crisis and exhaustion.
“We can only make this a reality with the public’s help. Every donation helps power Acorns Time Machine so more families can spend less time worrying about care and more time together.
“No parent should have to choose between care and cuddles. Acorns Time Machine will help fund the care they need so they don’t have to.”
Acorns Children’s Hospice provides specialist palliative care for babies, children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, and support for their families. This care and support is provided from Acorns three hospices in Birmingham, Walsall and Worcester, as well as in family homes and local communities.
Acorns needs around £40,000 every day to provide its children’s hospice care, with more than 75% of that amount coming from generous donations, fundraising by businesses and the local community, and income from the charity’s retail shops.
Donate today to power Acorns Time Machine and give seriously-ill children more time to be kids. Visit acorns.org.uk/timemachine.