Acorns Children’s Hospice has thanked people in Stone who have raised over £47,000 for the charity over the last 25 years.
In the 25 years since Princess Diana officially opened the first Acorns hospice in Selly Oak in Birmingham, two life-limited and life-threatened children and their families from Stone have received care and support from the charity.
“Acorns relies on voluntary donations and fundraising for the majority of the income needed to provide specialist palliative care,” said chief executive David Strudley, “so we simply wouldn’t have been able to help those two children and families without the ongoing support of the local community.
“We know from our records that in the last 25 years individuals, groups, organisations and businesses in Stone have helped us to the tune of over £47,000. At our current running costs of £750 per child per day, that’s the equivalent of over 60 days of care for local life limited children.
“This could have been via loose change in a collection tin, a bake sale in the church hall, dress down day in the office, a school concert, running a marathon or even trekking across a desert. The ways that people find to support Acorns are endless and never cease to amaze and humble us.
“It’s not just financial support that we want to recognise and say thank you for,” David added. “Acorns depends on an army of volunteers giving up their time to help out in the hospices, shops and out and about in the community, including individuals from Stone. Without them, we simply wouldn’t be able to do so much valuable work.
“On behalf of everyone at Acorns, I extend a big thank you to the Stone community and appeal to supporters past, present and future to make Acorns a part of their plans for 2014 in whatever way they can.”
This look back comes as Acorns enters the first full calendar year of its ambitious five-year growth strategy which aims to help to provide palliative care and support to the 2,000 plus estimated life-limited and life-threatened children in the region.
During its 25th anniversary year, the organisation has supported over 640 life-limited and life-threatened children and almost 900 families, including those that are bereaved. The five year strategy aims to increase the numbers that may use their services by 50% to 960 and 1,290 respectively by 2018.
This extensive increase in provision will mean an overall increase in annual care costs of around £4.2m by the end of the five-year plan period. This will require an increase in overall income of almost 50% by 2018 to meet costs.
For further information about Acorns Children’s Hospice visit www.acorns.org.uk, email info@acorns.org.uk or call 01564 825000.
