Social care heroes give birthday boost to Shropshire-based children’s hospice charity

The Hope House/Tŷ Gobaith organisation, which provides vital services for children with life-limiting conditions and their families in North Wales, has received a donation of £1,300 from Care Forum Wales.

The money was raised with a raffle at the Wales Care Awards, dubbed the Oscars of social care, which are organised by Care Forum Wales.

The charity, which has two hospices in Morda, near Oswestry, and the Conwy Valley, is preparing to celebrate its 30^th anniversary next year

Hundreds of front line social care workers attended a glittering presentation evening in Cardiff when the unsung frontline heroes were recognised with gold, silver and bronze awards paying tribute to the daily work they do.

Hope House was opened in 1995 and was at the time only the 10th children’s hospice in the world.

It now costs £9.6 million annually to maintain the hospice services, including professional in-house medical care, counselling, support for parents and siblings, bereavement counselling and associated therapies, social care and advice to help with issues such as housing adaptations.

Care Forum Wales spokesperson Janet Roberts said: “The Wales Care Awards are all about celebrating amazing work done by the social care sector in Wales and as part of those celebrations each year we like to offer a helping hand to a charity through our raffle on the awards night.

“We choose a different beneficiary for each raffle, but always one with a strong link to the care world. In 2024 we chose this particular charity because there is no doubt that the work done here every day is also truly amazing.

“The Hope House Hospices provide a safe, dignified space for children diagnosed with serious illnesses and their families, enabling them to live the best lives they can during difficult times.

“But it relies heavily on public support to continue its incredible work so we were delighted when our Wales Care Awards raffle raised a fantastic £1,362 for such a deserving cause.”

The two hospices currently support 750 families living in Mid and North Wales, Shropshire, and Cheshire who are either caring for a child with a life-limiting illness or who are grieving the loss of a child.

Hope House fundraiser Bethan Young, said the money will make a big difference to young people they work with right across the region.

She said: “It is difficult to express how grateful we are for any donation, large or small. Every penny goes to help children and their families who are enduring the most challenging times any family has to face.

“My job is to help raise as much money as we can to ensure our hospices can continue their work, and that is work which never stops.

“Our aim is to give every local child with a life-threatening condition ongoing access to professional care and improve their quality of life from the point of diagnosis.

“When an organisation like Care Forum Wales steps forward with a big donation like this, it represents a huge stride forward. We cannot thank them enough for making our charity the benefactor of this raffle.”

Janet Roberts also thanked all the sponsors who got behind the Wales Care Awards event, without whom the presentation evening would not have been possible.

She said: “We also thank all those organisations who donated prizes, and everyone who bought a raffle ticket. We had about 11 prizes on the night including a variety of gift vouchers and a meal out.”

For more information about Hope House Hospices, the work they do and fundraising visit hopehouse.org.uk/ty-gobaith