Lifeline Fund Tŷ Gobaith and South Wales-based Tŷ Hafan are working to establish a new Lifeline Fund to give us funding equality with the rest of the UK, ensuring that all Welsh children with life-limiting conditions and their families can receive the support they desperately need. The only two children’s hospices in Wales are working with members of the Senedd, the Welsh Government and the End-of-Life Care Board constructively to find a sustainable funding solution. The proposal for a Lifeline Fund stemmed from the Family Voices report jointly published by the charities in 2020. Read the 'Family Voices' report in English and Welsh here. Between us, Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan, provide respite and palliative care for more than 450 families with terminally and seriously ill children and offer around 2,500 nights of respite care each year in Wales. Currently, we receive less than 10% of our annual funding from the Welsh Government and statutory sources like local authorities and health boards. This is in stark contrast to England where in 2020/21, children’s hospices saw an increase in state funding from 21% to 34% of charitable expenditure - a move in the right direction. Elsewhere, in Northern Ireland funding sits as 25% and Scotland 50% - while the Republic of Ireland recently announced it would fund 30% of running costs for their children’s hospices. Read our Lifeline Fund proposal What would a Lifeline Fund achieve? Secure additional crucial nights of respite care for children with a life-limiting condition and their families at children’s hospices. Enable hospices to employ more staff who can develop positive relationships with families throughout a child’s life, establishing trusted partnership working, and a deeper understanding of a child and family's needs. Reduce the burden on, and financial costs, to the NHS by reducing unplanned and crisis hospital admissions for children with life-limiting conditions. Ensure our hospices can sustain and expand our care in other areas such as physiotherapy and other therapeutic support, clinical support and advice. Give the hospices the financial confidence to plan to expand sustainable services to reach more children and families. Support local government to meet its statutory requirements in relation to respite care, which cannot be met without a sustainable children’s hospice sector. Ultimately it will ensure Wales makes a vital step in our national mission to become a compassionate country. How can you support us? You can help us ensure that our call for a Lifeline Fund remains on the political agenda in Wales by writing to your constituency and regional Members of the Senedd. This will help ensure that elected representatives remain focused on the need to offer a sustainable funding solution for those children with unfairly short lives and that they receive the best possible care, at home, at the hospices and in the community. Thank you for your support. Download the English draft letter/email Download the Welsh draft letter/email Download our Lifeline Fund Briefing in English Download our Lifeline Fund Briefing in Welsh
Tŷ Gobaith and South Wales-based Tŷ Hafan are working to establish a new Lifeline Fund to give us funding equality with the rest of the UK, ensuring that all Welsh children with life-limiting conditions and their families can receive the support they desperately need. The only two children’s hospices in Wales are working with members of the Senedd, the Welsh Government and the End-of-Life Care Board constructively to find a sustainable funding solution. The proposal for a Lifeline Fund stemmed from the Family Voices report jointly published by the charities in 2020. Read the 'Family Voices' report in English and Welsh here. Between us, Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan, provide respite and palliative care for more than 450 families with terminally and seriously ill children and offer around 2,500 nights of respite care each year in Wales. Currently, we receive less than 10% of our annual funding from the Welsh Government and statutory sources like local authorities and health boards. This is in stark contrast to England where in 2020/21, children’s hospices saw an increase in state funding from 21% to 34% of charitable expenditure - a move in the right direction. Elsewhere, in Northern Ireland funding sits as 25% and Scotland 50% - while the Republic of Ireland recently announced it would fund 30% of running costs for their children’s hospices. Read our Lifeline Fund proposal What would a Lifeline Fund achieve? Secure additional crucial nights of respite care for children with a life-limiting condition and their families at children’s hospices. Enable hospices to employ more staff who can develop positive relationships with families throughout a child’s life, establishing trusted partnership working, and a deeper understanding of a child and family's needs. Reduce the burden on, and financial costs, to the NHS by reducing unplanned and crisis hospital admissions for children with life-limiting conditions. Ensure our hospices can sustain and expand our care in other areas such as physiotherapy and other therapeutic support, clinical support and advice. Give the hospices the financial confidence to plan to expand sustainable services to reach more children and families. Support local government to meet its statutory requirements in relation to respite care, which cannot be met without a sustainable children’s hospice sector. Ultimately it will ensure Wales makes a vital step in our national mission to become a compassionate country. How can you support us? You can help us ensure that our call for a Lifeline Fund remains on the political agenda in Wales by writing to your constituency and regional Members of the Senedd. This will help ensure that elected representatives remain focused on the need to offer a sustainable funding solution for those children with unfairly short lives and that they receive the best possible care, at home, at the hospices and in the community. Thank you for your support. Download the English draft letter/email Download the Welsh draft letter/email Download our Lifeline Fund Briefing in English Download our Lifeline Fund Briefing in Welsh