Help us to create more smiles on the faces of the children who need our help.
My name is Alison Appleby, I am the Head of Care at Butterwick House Children's Hospice. I wanted to let you know about how your generosity could help us achieve one of our greatest measures of success - smiles!
The essential 24 hour nursing care is just one part of our work with our children and their families. We aim to provide much more than just medicine and food, we use our resources to create quality days, cherished memories and above all an enhanced quality of life for everyone we are working with.
Creative therapies and special days
Your support would allow us to get everyone messy in our arts and crafts room, where we recently created Valentines hearts and pictures to brighten up the walls in the children's unit. Our next project will be to create artwork to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. It is charitable donations that pay for all the materials needed for these fun and relaxing sessions, which give the children a chance to have time out from their illness and just be children, not patients.
In December 2011, we took the children to Whitworth Park to see the reindeer (before Santa needed them) - this year we would like to take them to Butterfly World, the Children's Farm and also the seaside. Donations help to pay for all of these brilliant outings, which are so important to our children's happiness and well-being.
Brothers and Sisters feel special too!
As well as providing nursing care and support for the children we try to help their siblings too; brothers and sisters often feel 'left out' or isolated when they have a sibling with a serious medical condition.
Last year we took a group of these siblings for an activity weekend at East Barnby, where there were lots of smiles, laughs and a whole lot of fun. We can't do this without your support.
It costs over £800,000 every year to maintain our services, which make such a vast difference to the children we care for and their families. Our children all suffer from life limiting, complex illnesses. We offer as much support as we can to family members and are always at the end of the phone or ready to step in to take over caring responsibilities when needed.
It is so important for us to be able to add life to days, even though we can't add days to the children's lives. Can you help us to continue creating happy smiles?
Please donate whatever you can afford to help us keep on providing happiness and fun. It's often the best medicine of all.
Thank you for your Support
Alison
Head of Care, Butterwick House
