Hope House at 21: Special pair leading the way

Three grown women having a jolly afternoon in the kids' space? Well…sort of.

But here, in this place, it is all so very much more than that. Because this fabulous new attraction is in the grounds of Hope House at Morda, near Oswestry, to be enjoyed by many of the life-limited children who are at the hospice for respite care.

The garden, created in days and only finished last week, is yet another testament to the love, care and support from so many people for these special children and their families.

Young graduates of the Redrow Building company were responsible for this one. And for director of fund raising at Hope House, Simi Epstein, who has been there for nearly nine years and Kath Jones, director of care for Hope House, its sister hospice Ty Gobaith in Conwy was the second major project in this children's hospice story, and the community services which are now available in both areas.

The Fairy Garden is yet another huge commitment to this very special charity.

Kath is more than a bit special. She has been at Hope House since it opened 21 years ago and is now responsible for both the children's hospices and the significant community services they offer and says: "You know I still can't quite believe it."

In a way, Simi and Kath head up the two critical wings of this very special charity – raising the money and spending it.

But they are also great colleagues and good friends so it seemed a good idea to interview them together.

The one thing both of them emphasise (regularly) is that they both have the most fantastic teams who are all 100 per cent committed to the cause – which is the only reason the hospice service works at all.

And work it does.

Simi has been at Hope House for nearly nine years and came in from a background of other worthy charities – all of which need support of course.

She says: "One of the reasons people so often stay here for so long is that they believe wholeheartedly in the cause and know so many of the children and families.

"I have worked for the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals and also Motor Neurone Disease, all such good causes but most of the time you don't see and get to know those you are helping. Here, you do."

But it all costs. In fact, around £6 million a year.

Come in Simi Epstein. Ask the director of fund raising to tell you the most important part of her role and she says: "Keeping one step ahead. Successes one year doesn't guarantee successes for other years. This is the first charity I have worked for where I have seen where every penny is spent – for instance we sit in meetings discussing whether we need another syringe driver.

"Since only two per cent of the population contribute to us directly, we obviously spread the message as widely as we can. And we know that many people support other areas of fundraising."

Their lottery attracts many of us, the Hope House shops are a tremendous success story, events organised by thousands of supporters year by year are fantastic and the amount of work done by dedicated volunteers is humbling.

Kath and Simi head up the amazing teams which together pull Hope House and Ty Gobaith care together. And because they know the irreplaceable value it all offers, they will never let the children down.