Provincial Grand Lodge of Down

Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice is part of Northern Ireland Hospice Care. It was established in 1988 to provide respite and end of life care to life limited children and their families. As the only children’s hospice service in Northern Ireland it provides care across the Province both in the children’s hospice at Horizon House in Belfast and in the community, in the child’s own home.

 

There are over 860 children with life-limiting illness living in Northern Ireland. These children do not have a life expectancy of longer than 18 years and they have very special care needs. They may suffer from life limiting progressive illnesses such as Muscular Dystrophy or rare genetic disorders such as Batten’s Disease, or life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. Such conditions require substantial and in many cases full-time round the clock care and many of them will die before reaching adulthood. This puts an enormous strain on family life, especially if more than one sibling is ill. At times, families can feel overwhelmed by the situation, both emotionally and physically.

 

The Children’s Hospice supports some of the most vulnerable families in our community and last year Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice helped 250 of these families by providing respite and end-of-life care as well as friendship and practical support both throughout the child’s illness and into bereavement. We want to continue to help more families and make this essential service even more accessible to those who need it most.

 

It costs £1.8 million every year to keep our services running, so the support of corporate partnerships is a real lifeline to us. You will be helping us to provide this much need care to families across Northern Ireland. We greatly appreciate the support of the Freemasons and we look forward to working with you in 2008.