This Children’s Hospice Week we are celebrating the bravery of the children and families who rely on our services – ordinary people living extraordinary lives.

We are focusing on their immense resilience and bravery - people for whom everyday living often presents multiple and complex challenges, challenges made even harder by the pandemic.

Children like little Matilda and her parents Michelle and Pete from Llandudno. Matilda was discharged from hospital just days into lockdown after a major operation. Shielding and unable to access the help of their close-knit family and friends they turned to Hope House & Tŷ Gobaith for help. The support they received helped the family to feel in control, safe and not alone.

Our Chief Executive Andy Goldsmith explains why this Children’s Hospice Week we are celebrating families and also repeating our call for fairer funding for Wales’ two children’s hospices Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan. Children’s Hospices in Wales currently receive less than 10% Government funding compared to 21% in England and 50% in Scotland.

“We decided to use the occasion of Children’s Hospice Week to draw attention to these remarkable children and their families, to acknowledge just how extraordinary they are, all day, every day often with very little support, and how we, the two children’s hospices in Wales are calling on the Welsh Government to provide families with the support they deserve and often desperately need, even more so since March 2020 when all of our worlds turned upside down,” said Andy.

“We also want to use this occasion to thank the thousands of individuals, clubs and societies, businesses and organisations that have supported us so generously throughout some of our most difficult times - we thank them from the bottom of our hearts. We are always delighted when someone would like to help us in some way and we are always open to new offers and ideas.”

Maria Timon Samra, Chief Executive of Tŷ Hafan, added: “Families of a child with a life-limiting condition are already challenged in terms of how they live their everyday lives. They are ordinary people, living extraordinary lives. The coronavirus pandemic has multiplied those challenges to the nth degree.

“While so very many of us may have had to juggle home-working and home-schooling amid concerns about the impact of Covid on our families and loved ones, this is really put into perspective when we think of the parents of our hospice children. 

“Our hospices, which our families have described as their ‘lifeline’ have stayed open to provide crisis care and end of life support throughout the pandemic and are carefully and safely welcoming more families back.”

Read more about our campaign for equitable funding for Welsh children's hospices here.