This week is Children’s Hospice Week and Aico are joining local charity Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith in helping raise awareness of the great work the hospices do for families within their community. Aico have given ongoing support to Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith Children’s Hospices for many years and in a variety of ways, through their Corporate Social Responsibility Programme, ‘Aico in the Community’, donating over £75,000 over the years through various causes.

Hope House Children’s Hospices is a Centre of Excellence for children’s palliative care ensuring every family facing the death of a child gets the very best care and support when and where they need it. Aico are very proud to be recognised as a Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith Business Champion. Hope House have had to make sure their hospices are Covid safe and increased PPE is required for their nurses and families, putting extra strain on their finances – an additional £78 per day.

Companies and organisations across Shropshire, Cheshire, North and Mid Wales are becoming Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith Business Champions by pledging to support them. The charity is therefore inviting companies to become a Champion by donating £780 to cover the cost of ten days’ PPE for one child’s stay. Every business or individual who pledges will be making a huge difference to help seriously ill children and their families living in their community.

The charity was formed in 1991 and for thirty years, families across Cheshire, Shropshire, Mid and North Wales have received bespoke and expert care, putting the needs of the child and their family at the heart of everything they do. Hope House provides care for children and support for their families, from diagnosis and continue for as long as they are able to, but all of this incredible work is only made possible by their supporters.

It currently costs £6.5 million every year to run their services with 86% of this being spent on care. Approximately one month’s income comes from statutory sources and for the other eleven months of the year they are dependent on public support.

There are many ways in which you can support Hope House, as well as donations, a weekly lottery, volunteering and sponsorship opportunities, Hope House have many fundraising events organised throughout the year. Aico encourage their colleagues to get involved in fundraising opportunities and they have recently taken part in the Hope House Bumper Summer Raffle, with colleagues raising over £300 in ticket sales. As a business, Aico in the Community continue to look at ways in which we can support the charity.

Fundraising Team Leader at Hope House Lynsey Kilvert said: “This Children’s Hospice Week we are celebrating the bravery of the children and families who rely on our services – ordinary people living extraordinary lives. We are focusing on their immense resilience and bravery – people for whom everyday living often presents multiple and complex challenges, challenges made even harder by the pandemic. We also want to use this occasion to thank the thousands of individuals, clubs and businesses like Aico that have supported us so generously throughout some of our most difficult times – we thank them from the bottom of our hearts.”

If you would like to learn more about Hope House and how you can become a Business Champion, then please visit:

https://www.hopehouse.org.uk/businesschampion

To find out more about Aico in the Community, please visit:

https://www.aico.co.uk/in-the-community/

Pictured: Community Liaison Lily Ellis with the Hope House Business Champion certificate.