Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, as Royal Patron of East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), is supporting Children’s Hospice Week and has released the following statement.
“Around the clock support is crucial for children receiving palliative care. They and their families often need help every hour of every day, both in hospices and at home. As Patron of EACH, I have seen first-hand this remarkable and varied work and just how vital the support of staff and volunteers can be to the families of children with life limiting conditions. It has been wonderful to see the fantastic public support for Children’s Hospice Week over the last few days. Please continue supporting your local children’s hospice in whatever way you can.”
Children’s Hospice Week (which runs from 13th – 20th June this year) is the UK’s only awareness raising and fundraising week for children with life-limiting conditions and the services, like children’s hospices, that support them.
This year Children’s Hospice Week has promoted the #WeCare247 campaign on Twitter to focus on the complex round-the-clock care that seriously ill children require, and the roles that children’s hospices and palliative care services provide, from nurses and carers to counsellors and volunteers.
Barbara Gelb, Chief Executive of Together for Short Lives said, “We are so delighted that Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, as Royal Patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices has, once more, generously given her support to Children’s Hospice Week. I hope that the public will be inspired by Her Royal Highness to join us this Children’s Hospice Week by supporting their local children’s hospice. Children’s hospices are all charities that rely on the public’s generosity to provide lifeline support, helping ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances to cope with the challenges of daily life.”
The Duchess of Cambridge recently visited EACH’s Treehouse hospice to learn more about the services that are required for families with seriously ill children, and especially the role that volunteers can play for children’s hospices, which is an issue she is exploring further with her Foundation.
Graham Butland, EACH Chief Executive, said, “As our Royal Patron, Her Royal Highness has really helped put children’s hospice services in the UK at the forefront of people’s minds and allowed us to demonstrate the full and flexible range of services families can benefit from 24/7. The very active role The Duchess plays, both publicly and in private, is considerable and much appreciated by our staff, volunteers and of course the children, young people and families using our services.”
