Lifeline Fund Following the publication of our Family Voices report in 2020, Tŷ Gobaith and South Wales-based Tŷ Hafan have been working closely with the Welsh Government and Members of the Senedd to advocate for a more sustainable funding settlement. The report– which set out what the families of children with life-limiting and progressive conditions want more of in Wales – prompted the hospices to work together with the Welsh Government to allow us to support more children and their families, extend our reach to every corner of Wales and to support Wales on its mission to become a more compassionate country. Read the Family Voices report in English and Welsh here. Our Lifeline Fund campaign – so named after our families who called us a “lifeline” – came about as a call to action on the Welsh Government, as Wales’ two children’s hospices were receiving less than 10 percent of our funding from statutory sources in Wales – despite the hospices supporting more than 450 families each year. On Tuesday 25 January 2022, following a review of hospice funding in Wales, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Eluned Morgan MS, announced that Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan will receive an additional £880,000 every year. This funding is a positive first step towards a more sustainable funding solution for our two hospices and will go some way to ensuring that every child facing an unfairly short life gets the care and support both they and their families deserve. More information on the Minister’s announcement is available here What will this funding achieve? Secure additional nights of respite care for children with a life-limiting condition and their families at hospices. Enable hospices to employ more staff who can develop positive relationships throughout a child’s life. Reduce the burden on, and financial costs to, the NHS by reducing unplanned and crisis hospital admissions. Ensure our hospices can sustain and expand our care in other areas such as: physiotherapy and other therapeutic support, clinical support and advice. Support local government to meet its statutory requirements in relation to respite care Ultimately, it helps Wales to make a vital step in our national mission to become a compassionate country. Thank you We want to thank all of those families who took the time to help us with our Family Voices survey in 2020. Without your help, we never would have been successful in our calls for additional funding from the Welsh Government. We are beyond proud to have worked with you on the Family Voices project and hope that you will support our research work in the future – as we continue to lobby the Government for positive changes for your benefit. Next steps While the Welsh Government’s announcement is, undoubtedly, a welcome first step and does provide greater financial confidence to our hospices – we are still reliant on the generosity of the Welsh public for around 80 percent of the cost of providing care to some of Wales’ most vulnerable children. We look forward to continuing to work positively with this Government in Wales as part of Phase 2 of the End-of-Life Care Review – and ensure that Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan, play a central role in developing an end-of-life care pathway that is fit for purpose and has children and young people at its core. 2022 will be a key year for the development of further policy to support our service users in Wales. We aim to: Continue to advocate for a more sustainable funding settlement from statutory sources in Wales. Ensure that every local authority understands its statutory obligation to provide appropriate respite care for children with life-limiting conditions; and that these services are properly funded. Ensure every family who has experienced the loss of a child gets the care and support they deserve. Ensure that access to end-of-life, bereavement support and respite services is easy, timely and free at the point of service for everyone who needs it in Wales.
Following the publication of our Family Voices report in 2020, Tŷ Gobaith and South Wales-based Tŷ Hafan have been working closely with the Welsh Government and Members of the Senedd to advocate for a more sustainable funding settlement. The report– which set out what the families of children with life-limiting and progressive conditions want more of in Wales – prompted the hospices to work together with the Welsh Government to allow us to support more children and their families, extend our reach to every corner of Wales and to support Wales on its mission to become a more compassionate country. Read the Family Voices report in English and Welsh here. Our Lifeline Fund campaign – so named after our families who called us a “lifeline” – came about as a call to action on the Welsh Government, as Wales’ two children’s hospices were receiving less than 10 percent of our funding from statutory sources in Wales – despite the hospices supporting more than 450 families each year. On Tuesday 25 January 2022, following a review of hospice funding in Wales, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Eluned Morgan MS, announced that Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan will receive an additional £880,000 every year. This funding is a positive first step towards a more sustainable funding solution for our two hospices and will go some way to ensuring that every child facing an unfairly short life gets the care and support both they and their families deserve. More information on the Minister’s announcement is available here What will this funding achieve? Secure additional nights of respite care for children with a life-limiting condition and their families at hospices. Enable hospices to employ more staff who can develop positive relationships throughout a child’s life. Reduce the burden on, and financial costs to, the NHS by reducing unplanned and crisis hospital admissions. Ensure our hospices can sustain and expand our care in other areas such as: physiotherapy and other therapeutic support, clinical support and advice. Support local government to meet its statutory requirements in relation to respite care Ultimately, it helps Wales to make a vital step in our national mission to become a compassionate country. Thank you We want to thank all of those families who took the time to help us with our Family Voices survey in 2020. Without your help, we never would have been successful in our calls for additional funding from the Welsh Government. We are beyond proud to have worked with you on the Family Voices project and hope that you will support our research work in the future – as we continue to lobby the Government for positive changes for your benefit. Next steps While the Welsh Government’s announcement is, undoubtedly, a welcome first step and does provide greater financial confidence to our hospices – we are still reliant on the generosity of the Welsh public for around 80 percent of the cost of providing care to some of Wales’ most vulnerable children. We look forward to continuing to work positively with this Government in Wales as part of Phase 2 of the End-of-Life Care Review – and ensure that Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan, play a central role in developing an end-of-life care pathway that is fit for purpose and has children and young people at its core. 2022 will be a key year for the development of further policy to support our service users in Wales. We aim to: Continue to advocate for a more sustainable funding settlement from statutory sources in Wales. Ensure that every local authority understands its statutory obligation to provide appropriate respite care for children with life-limiting conditions; and that these services are properly funded. Ensure every family who has experienced the loss of a child gets the care and support they deserve. Ensure that access to end-of-life, bereavement support and respite services is easy, timely and free at the point of service for everyone who needs it in Wales.