Support Our Services - We need you North-east!
For families in the UK, we have had to adapt to a very different way of life over the last couple of months. We have had to adjust to life without access to mainstream schooling, activity clubs, friends and grandparents, all of which help give us an opportunity to rest and recharge. While many will say there have been wonderful moments that they will cherish, most will also say that it has been really challenging having their support network removed. But what if that was your normal?
For Charlie House supported families difficulties in accessing specialist care for a child with complex disabilities means families often meet 100% of their child’s care requirements with little or no opportunity for respite. The risk of complications from what we regard as everyday infections can result in long periods of isolation for children with complex disabilities and their families. That is why what we do is so important.
It has always been our mission to provide support to babies, children and young people that have life-limiting conditions and their families, helping provide access to the right care, to information, to accessible activities and ultimately to a purpose-built specialist support centre in the North East. The need now is greater than ever.
The reality for Charlie House supported families during this lockdown period is that they cannot leave their homes at all. Having a child with complex disabilities or a life-limiting condition means that even stricter measures must be taken to ensure their child’s safety and many of our families have been in complete lockdown for the past 12 weeks. They have been unable to have carers in their homes to assist with their child’s needs and have no access to face to face, hands on services which support them.
It is critical that we continue to support these children and their families, now and in the future. We are currently doing this remotely by:
- Facilitating regular video calls with our Children & Family Support Manager, Leigh for therapeutic and emotional support
- Creating and delivering isolation packs
- Providing online activity sessions from our Activities Coordinator Beth
- Providing access to our Community Nurse Fiona
- Providing pre & post bereavement support
- Liaising with medical teams and advocating for child and family
- Providing information and peer support via our private moderated family Facebook page
Our future plans remain the same, and when safe to do so we will return to face to face service delivery and:
- Our biannual family activity breaks to Kielder Forest Park
- Fantastic regular activity clubs for parent/carers, siblings, groups, Under 5’s and the entire family
Your donations will help to ensure that we can do that, and we can’t continue to do this without you. To enable this on-going vital support now and in the future, we need your help to Support Our Services – please text CHARLIESOS to 70085 today to donate £5.
Your generous donation will ensure that Charlie House can continue to support babies, children and young people with complex disabilities and life-limiting conditions, and their families, in the North-east.
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