Hospice appeal tops £160,000

DOUBLE celebrations were in order as an appeal for a new children’s hospice in Suffolk topped £160,000 on the day diggers moved in to start building work.

The foundations for the £3million centre off Bixley Road in Ipswich were being sunk yesterday as East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) project took another leap forward.

Thanks in part to donations from East Anglian Daily Times readers, EACH’s Treehouse Appeal has reached £160,000 in just three weeks.

Melanie Chew, director of fundraising at EACH, said: “It is immensely exciting to see the building work coming along.

“We are so excited to be able to announce such an exciting total on the day we really start seeing work take place.”

Thanks to generous pledges, coffee mornings, charity runs and fundraising ideas from supporters, the Treehouse Appeal is gathering steam.

Watching the work take place, Melanie thanked EADT readers for their vital efforts to boost the campaign. “We have been overwhelmed by the support from East Anglian Daily Times readers,” she said. “People are filling in their coupons and ringing the office with their fundraising ideas.

“The momentum is growing and I hope people continue to support us throughout the coming year.”

Graham Butland, EACH chief executive, got behind the controls of a massive pile driver to help sink some of the 149 augured piles which are being buried eight metres deep in the soil to support the final structure.

He said: “It is great to see it taking shape.

“It is going to be a tranquil haven which, for some families, is so important.”

Barnes Construction is undertaking the work, which will take around 15 months to complete.

Mr Butland said he was delighted with the fantastic support the campaign had received.

“It’s very encouraging. We are absolutely delighted with the response because these are difficult times for some people. The generosity of people in Suffolk and the east is really coming through,” he said.

Here's how you can help the appeal

East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) provides care and support for life-threatened children and their families across Suffolk and North Essex, either in families' own homes or at the EACH hospice in Walker Close, Ipswich, which the charity has outgrown. There are not enough beds and rooms to meet needs, and there are no dedicated spaces for the specialist services required by families. Initially intended for a maximum capacity of 40 families, the current hospice now cares for more than 80 families.

EACH has been donated a four acre woodland plot in Ipswich by a local charitable trust on which the charity will build a new hospice. The new building will allow end of life care to be delivered in greater privacy, provide more bed spaces for life-threatened children, and overnight accommodation for other family members and include dedicated areas for specialist therapies including hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, music and play therapy.

EACH needs to raise £3 million through the Treehouse Appeal to build and equip the new hospice, and throughout 2010 there will be many ways to get involved, as an individual, company, school or community group. Every single contribution helps, no matter what size. You could sponsor a brick in our woodland path, buy our lovely merchandise, join us on the Orwell Walk or hold your own event - such as a Butterfly Day coffee and cakes. For more information visit www.each.org.uk/how-to-help/treehouse_appeal/ or call 01473 276115.

This article originally appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times on 9 April 2010 and is reproduced here by kind permission of the publisher

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