Cash boost for Hospice Gardens

Tue, Jun 12th 2007, 11:00

Wirral-based children’s hospice Claire House is one step closer to developing its outdoor play areas after a local company raised £7,000 towards the cause at a charity ball.

The event, organised by housebuilder Redrow Homes (North West), was held at St David’s Park Hotel in Ewloe, Flintshire – with every penny made going towards the £2 million pounds the hospice needs to raise each year to stay open, and specifically to help fund new and existing outdoor areas.

Employees, suppliers and sub-contractors of the company were invited to bid for a selection of exclusive auction lots on the night, including signed football shirts donated by Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney – raising hundreds of pounds alone - as well as the chance to be a presenter at Radio City for the day and a fabulous hot air  balloon ride with overnight hotel stay.

Nuala Howard, finance director at Redrow Homes (North West), is overjoyed to be able to help the worthy cause, saying: “Claire House is a wonderful place and their tireless work with children and their families at such a distressing time is inspiring. As a company, we always try to help local charities and having worked with Claire House before, it seemed natural to hold our ball in their honour.”

Redrow’s donation will help fund development of the Claire House outdoor grounds, which will involve creating a sensory garden and new play area and replacing older facilities, as well as making all the outdoor areas more wheelchair-friendly.

Although some more money still needs to be raised, Redrow’s contribution means that Claire House is well on the well to being able to make these improvements for the children they treat. Janet Croker, head of appeals at Claire House, explains: “Having nice outdoor spaces is really important to the children, and as a lot of our patients use wheelchairs, it’s important that everything is easily accessible to them.

“It’s absolutely vital that we get the backing from local businesses such as Redrow, and we value their continued support so much. The fact that they chose to organise their own event to raise the money is also excellent, as it raises awareness about Claire House, as well as money.”

The hospice cares for children and young people from 0 - 23 years with life threatening or life limiting conditions and their families from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales and the Isle of Man. Children's hospices are dedicated to enhancing the quality of life, providing specialist respite, palliative, terminal and bereavement care – vital at such a difficult time.

There are 10 in-patient beds and Claire House currently has around 250 children on its books. The £2 million a year needed to keep the hospice running has to be found through fundraising alone, as the hospice gets no government funding from the NHS.

Nuala adds: “We will continue to support Claire House however we can, and one way our customers can make a difference is by buying Claire House pin badges from our new homes developments across the North West. For just a pound, you can help make a big difference to the lives of local youngsters.”

Redrow has long been committed to charity work throughout the UK and last year set up the Redrow Foundation – a charitable trust dedicated to providing financial support for the relief of poverty and sickness in the UK and, in particular, to providing accommodation and related assistance, including respite care, especially to children, the elderly and those who are sick or infirm.

To find out more about Claire House and how you can get involved, please call the hospice directly on 0151 343 0883, or visit www.claire-house.org.uk.