This week is Children’s Hospice Week (22nd to 28th June) and so we wanted to dedicate a blog to the amazing work of our chosen corporate charity, Julia’s House.
Julia’s House are an award-winning children’s hospice charity in Dorset and Wiltshire for children with life-threatening or life-limiting medical conditions. Their nurses and carers are frontline heroes, helping to take some of the strain off the NHS at the moment by caring for some of the most vulnerable children in their homes, in the community and at their hospices.
Image from the Julia’s House website
But Julia’s House don’t just provide clinical care, they also provide emotional support for babies, children and their families across the two counties. These include access to things like complimentary therapies and each child gets their own play plan dedicated to the things they love most – whether that’s Batman, Lego, Paw Patrol or L.O.L Surprise! Their hospices are a home away from home where they help children to make happy memories whilst their families get a bit of respite. Julia’s House also have a calendar full of fun social events, where children and their families can meet and form friendships with others who might be in similar circumstances.
Julia’s House focuses on supporting the whole family, so they also put on evenings like their Valentine’s Day dinners for parents to spend some quality time together. To ensure that no one is overlooked, there are also regular community meetups and support groups for siblings and grandparents.
The charity receives just 5% of its total annual funding from the government, making it one of the worst-funded hospices in the UK. Due to Coronavirus, the charity had to close their shops earlier this year and they’ve also had to cancel certain fundraising events. They are now relying hugely on public donations.
Their next fundraising event that you can join in will be a Virtual Quiz Night on Tuesday 30th June with the theme of ‘Through the Decades’. It’s going to be free to join over on the Julia’s House Facebook page but if you’d like to make a donation, you can do so online here or text ‘JHQUIZ’ followed by the amount you wish to donate (for example ‘JHQUIZ 5’) to 70085 on the night.
If you can’t make it or quizzes just aren’t your thing, don’t worry – there are still lots of ways that you can support Julia’s House… Our director Clare once even jumped out of a plane!
