£3million hospice appeal
under way

AN AMBITIOUS appeal to raise £3million for a new children’s hospice in Suffolk will be launched today.

Author Antony Horowitz will kick-start the Treehouse Appeal for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) to build a fully equipped hospice facility in Ipswich to care for lifethreatened children and their families.

Exciting plans to create a purpose-built hospice in four acres of woodland off Bixley Road will be unveiled at an official launch at Trinity Park this morning.

The EADT is backing the appeal, and over the coming days and weeks will be publishing a series of special reports and asking readers to give generously to support this very deserving cause.

Foyle’s War author Mr Horowitz, who has a home in Orford, said: “I cannot imagine what it must be like to have a child who is life-threatened.

“EACH is at the heart of Suffolk and I cannot wait to see the new building standing.”

The acclaimed children’s author is backing the bid to create a brand new, six-bedroom site with hydro, physio and occupational therapy areas as well as a music room for youngsters throughout Suffolk and North Essex.

End-of-life care and short-break stays for around 80 families are currently provided in a modest bungalow in the grounds of Ipswich Hospital.

But the hospice, which offers play activities, days out and therapy for life-threatened children and their families, has outgrown its current site.

Families staying at the current bungalow in the final stages of their child’s life have to sleep on a sofa bed in a cramped bedroom which also doubles as a music therapy room.

If the vital cash can be raised, the contemporary hospice will be built in tranquil woodland surroundings, with six bedrooms for youngsters as well as en-suite accommodation for families.

The new building, designed by architects Barefoot & Gilles, will have a quiet room, staff areas, offices and quiet, landscaped grounds where youngsters can relax and spend quiet time.

EACH bosses hope the fantastic new facility will allow the charity to help some of the 400 children and young people in the area who need their support.

Melanie Chew, director of fundraising at EACH, said: “Demand for the care and support we provide has increased and we have subsequently outgrown our current building.

“I am now appealing to people all over the region to help us raise the funds needed to complete the project.”

Thanks to the donation of the £500,000 site by a charitable trust, dreams of opening the new hospice are tantalisingly close to becoming a reality.

Other celebrities such as Suffolk-based television star Griff Rhys Jones, the jockey Frankie Dettori, Radio 2 DJ Simon Mayo, band leader Jools Holland and BBC Look East’s Stewart White have also lent their support to the appeal, which will embark on fundraising events throughout the year.

Terry Hunt, EADT editor, said: “This is such an important appeal for an absolutely brilliant cause.

“Every time we ask our readers to support a fundraising campaign they always respond with tremendous generosity, and I’m sure the response will be exactly the same with the Treehouse Appeal.”

To find out more about the Treehouse Appeal or to make a donation, visit www.each.org.uk/treehouse or call 01473 276115.

This article originally appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times on 16 March 2010 and is reproduced here by kind permission of the publisher

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