We continue our Charitable Giving Initiative this month with a £500 donation to CHAS – Children’s Hospices Across Scotland. For more than twenty years, this charity has offered a support service for babies, children and young people with life-shortening conditions through their hospices, homecare services and hospital presence.
CHAS was nominated by a member of our team who has a very close connection with the charity, having sadly lost her nephew at a young age. This young boy and his loved ones were supported so caringly by the charity, and the family continues to take every opportunity to fundraise for CHAS and raise awareness for the wonderful work it carries out.
CHAS offers care and support to the whole family of a sick child either at home, in the hospital or at Robin House in Balloch or Rachel House in Kinross which are described as a “home from home” for families. The facilities available at the Houses range from hydrotherapy rooms, accessible garden spaces and areas for fun and relaxation as well as quiet spots for reflection and bereavement support.
Expert medical and social work staff form part of the team, along with chaplains, physiotherapists and music and play specialists. The charity also offers dedicated care at home and in children’s hospitals for all types of conditions, including very rare illnesses, as well as having a paediatric pharmacist on board who specialises in complex medication regimes.
The charity recently commissioned a research project that established the full scale of the number of children in Scotland with life-shortening conditions. It was found that three children die each week in this country and CHAS’s ambition is to reach out to them all and give every family who is living with the heart-breaking knowledge that their child is dying the support and care required to help them make the most of that precious time.
Kerrie Sutherland, from CHAS’s Supporter Care Team, is delighted we have reached out and offered her most sincere thanks to HPMS for our donation.
If anyone else would like to make a contribution to the charity or find out more about the work that CHAS carries out for sick children and their families, please visit their website by clicking here
