1. A new kitchen for Dougie Mac
The kitchen at Dougie Mac children’s hospice was becoming run down, so with the help of a grant for £31,000 from the ‘Building a Legacy Together’ scheme the hospice has now modernised its kitchen, enhancing the preparation area and cooking equipment for a better dining experience for the families they support.
2. A new accessible play space for Zoe's Place
At Zoe’s Place in Middlesbrough the Building a Legacy Together grant was used to create a new playground featuring wheelchair-accessible amenities like slides, trampolines, and roundabouts, as well as sensory elements such as music chimes and bells.
3. Making sweet music with Soundabout
Lisa, a Community Outreach Worker based in the North West organised specialist Soundabout music sessions for eight families to enjoy making memories and connecting with other families.
4. Coffees and Connections
Outreach Worker, Lisa, also set up Coffee & Connect sessions for isolated families. The sessions offer a safe space for families to talk about the challenges they are facing and give Lisa the ideal platform to introduce families to Together for Short Lives and discuss available support options.
5. The Crisis Pantry
For families with seriously ill children, the pressure of their child’s condition can overwhelm them, leaving little room for concerns like food shopping. Enter the Crisis Pantry: it delivers a £150 grocery shop to families at no cost, offering essential items and relief from the financial and mental strain of weekly shopping.
6. Help with the Cost of Living
For families caring for seriously ill children who are reliant on life-saving equipment at home, the recent rises in energy costs have hit hard. Cost of Living grants of £300 each have been given to hundreds of families across the country, to help pay for life-saving medical equipment.
7. Making Memories Together to last a lifetime
The Making Memories Together grant was designed to help families create lasting memories. Since its launch, it's impacted over 4,000 lives and allocated nearly £60,000. Hospices have used the grant for everything from parties to days out. A recurring theme is the emphasis on crafting physical keepsakes, offering families tangible reminders of their loved ones even after their passing, like these foot casts.
8. Butterfly Fund payments
When a child dies from a life-limiting or life-threatening condition, many families experience financial difficulties. The Butterfly Fund is a one-off grant aimed to help ease the burden in this extreme time of need. In regions supported by Morrisons, 73 families have received the £300 emergency payment funded by the partnership.
£2 million reasons to keep going
As you’ve seen, the partnership with Morrisons and Together for Short Lives, which started in February 2022, has been raising vital funds which have made a real difference to children’s and families lives across the country.
As well as supporting existing children’s hospices, Together for Short Lives are also reaching out to those families across the UK who don’t know about the support they can access through services like their local children’s hospice or Together for Short Lives’ own helpline and online family support service.
These are just eight examples of the many amazing things this partnership has achieved, and the partnership runs until October 2024, by which time we aim to raise a total of £10 million. So if you work or shop at Morrisons please look out for ways you can get involved in supporting the partnership over the summer and help us finish with a bang.