Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF) have awarded a further grant of £15,000 towards Eckersley House, a ‘Home from Home’ run by The Sick Children’s Trust for parents with a seriously ill child in hospital.
Since being relocated next to the Leeds Children’s Hospital in 2010, Eckersley House has been a base for thousands of families needing overnight stays and a place to rest near their poorly child.
CHSF have given over half a million pounds to Eckersley over the years, thanks to the generous fundraising of their charity supporters.
Jane McHale, House Manager of Eckersley House, said:
“We are incredibly grateful to the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund for their wonderfully generous grant of £15,000. This support will make a huge difference to the families who rely on Eckersley House while their children are receiving critical care at Leeds Children’s Hospital, and we cannot thank CHSF enough for their continued support.
“For the past 15 years, CHSF has been an incredible partner, providing more than £500,000 in funding to help us support families of children with serious heart conditions being treated at Leeds Children’s Hospital, guiding parents and guardians through some of the most difficult times in their lives.
“With the cost of running our ‘Home from Home’ continuing to rise, this funding ensures we can keep providing families with a warm, comfortable place to stay, just moments from their child’s hospital bedside. Once again, a huge thank you to CHSF for their ongoing generosity and for helping us to keep families together when they need it most.”
CHSF are incredibly grateful to the amazing team at Eckersley House who look after the Leeds ‘home-from’home’ and our heart families so well.
Last year, CHSF were able to offer a place to stay to around 300 families at Eckersley House and in their own rooms in Brotherton Wing, enabling worried mums and dads a place to recuperate just minutes from their child’s bedside.
Eckersley House offers 22 family bedrooms (linked directly to the wards by telephone) and three shared living areas, one on each floor, comprising a large kitchen, living room and play area, plus full laundry facilities.
Many families who take benefit from the ‘Home from Home’ have children admitted to Leeds Children’s Hospital with serious cardiac conditions or other life-threatening illnesses.
Over the last 12 months, families have stayed an average of 21 nights at Eckersley House, and recent survey data confirms that families would have struggled to cope and support their child without it.
They include heart hero Louie Jollands from Bottesford in North Lincolnshire.
Louie needed open heart surgery at just four days old, and mum Jess and dad Callum were very grateful for the accommodation. Jess said:
“CHSF made an impossible time just that little bit more bearable – offering accommodation, food vouchers, gift hampers, and something so simple yet powerful: a friendly face when we needed it most.
“We stayed in both Brotherton Wing and Eckersley House, which meant we could be close to Louie during the most critical moments. Being far from home, this also lifted a huge financial burden off our shoulders – we didn’t have to worry about where we’d sleep or how we’d afford it. It allowed us to focus on what mattered most: being there for our son.”
Ruth Davany, CHSF CEO said:
“We are thrilled to be able to continue our annual grant towards the fabulous accommodation at Eckersley House, and work with our lovely colleagues at The Sick Children‘s Trust to provide essential facilities for worried parents.
“We know how important safe and comfortable accommodation close to the hospital is for parents. Eckersley Houses offers families a place to sleep, freshen up and make a meal so that they can continue to be with their child during hospital stays.”
“CHSF’s aim is to ensure everyone affected by congenital heart disease in our region has greater control and choices, and since the charity began in 1988, suitable parent accommodation remains one of our biggest priorities.”
CHSF run a holistic family support service which offers tailored care packages of practical, financial and wellbeing support, which often includes the offer of family accommodation to families who live many miles away from Leeds.
The charity also provides essential resources for the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit, and 19 regional clinics, across its geographical remit of Yorkshire, the Humber, North East Lincolnshire and North Derbyshire.
Around 1 in 125 babies are born with heart disease in our region. Make a donation so CHSF can keep being there for families in our region.
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