The Sick Children's Trust
The Sick Children's Trust is a national charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1982, providing 'Home from Home' accommodation at hospitals around the United Kingdom. The Sick Children's Trust believes keeping families together significantly improves the recovery of seriously ill children. The charity provides free, high-quality 'Home from Home' accommodation, as well as emotional and practical support to families with seriously ill children in hospital. The charity currently has ten houses, in London, Leeds, Cambridge, Sheffield and Newcastle upon Tyne, which support over 4,000 families every year.
The Sick Children’s Trust was founded in 1982 by two paediatric specialists, Dr Jon Pritchard and Professor James Malpas, who believed that having parents on hand during hospital treatment benefited a child's recovery. It is the longest-serving charity providing ‘Home from Home’ accommodation in the UK.
When their child is receiving treatment in hospital for a serious or life-limiting illness, parents can stay at the charity's 'Homes from Home', free of charge, so that they can be close to their child and keep the family unit together.[1][2]
The charity's original board included Jon Pritchard, a doctor who specialized in childhood cancers, and Audrey Callaghan, then chair of the board of governors at Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children's hospital in London.[3]
References
- ↑ "Article: Trust provided a `home from home'.". The Journal. Newcastle, England. November 30, 2005. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
- ↑ Redvers, Louise (December 23, 2005). "Article: Bless this house.(News)". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle, England. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
- ↑ "Jon Pritchard (obituary)". Daily Telegraph. London. 23 February 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2010.