A group of specialist palliative care charities are delighted to have received funding from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) to further their work. The project, Transitions for Young People with Life-Limiting and Life-Threatening Conditions will carry out research tohelpdetermine what is needed to enable patients across the UK to experience a smooth and positive transition from child to adult palliative care services.
Led by Children’s Hospices UK working in partnership with ACT, Help the Hospices, the National Council for Palliative Care and the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York, the three-year research programme will benefit up to 10,000 children and young people and 3,400 organisations involved in the health care, social care and education sectors. The findings of the research will be widely publicised through media, workshops, presentations, meetings and forums.
Maddie Blackburn, Director of Care Development at Children's Hospices UK said:
"We are absolutely delighted to receive this support from the Big Lottery Fund. The grant of £421,000 will enable the Transition Partnership, led by Children's Hospices UK together with ACT, Help the Hospices and the National Council for Palliative Care to extend and develop research in the area of transition for young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.
"This money has the potential to transform lives. The research will be instrumental in shaping future care and support provided to an estimated 10,000 life-limited young people as they make the transition into adulthood,"
Peter Wanless Chief Executive of the Big Lottery Fund said:
“The Fund has a proud record of supporting charity-led research into issues of vital importance to communities and people most in need. Cancer and other life-limiting diseases affect so many lives. BIG is providing over £1.3million to charities working in this field. This is part of a wider investment of over £20 million for research to be announced next week. BIG recognises the important contribution of the voluntary and community sector in this crucial area.”
Media enquires
Help The Hospices
Zoe Grumbridge, z.grumbridge@helpthehospices.org.uk, 020 7520 8251
Children’s Hospices UK
Gemma Wallace, gemma@childhospice.org.uk,
0117 989 7820
About Help the Hospices
Help the Hospices is the leading charity supporting hospice care throughout the UK. In particular we support our 213 hospice members in their vital work on the front line of caring for people who face the end of life.
The majority of hospice care is provided by our members - local charities rooted in the communities they serve. Hospices provide a wide range of care for people living with life-limiting and terminal illness and their families, from inpatient beds to day care and care for people in their own homes.
Health services are funded separately by the devolved government in each UK nation. In England the government contributes an average of 32% of running costs for adult hospices (predominantly through Primary Care Trusts) and about 15% for children's hospices - the rest has to be found by charitable fundraising (note: based on latest figures available). About 100,000 volunteers work in UK hospices, and hospices couldn't do the work they do without them.
About Children’s Hospices UK
Children’s Hospices UK is the national charity that gives voice and support to all children’s hospice services. We help children’s hospices to continually enhance the care and support they provide to children who are not expected to reach adulthood and their families. We raise awareness of the range of services provided by children’s hospices and fundraise to help them to continue to provide their services for free. We also campaign and lobby on behalf of children’s hospices, ensuring their voice is heard by government.
Children's Hospices UK represents 42 operational children’s hospice services in the UK, with a further two services in the early stages of development. Each service is an independent charity which relies on public support to continue their work.
For more information visit www.childhospice.org.uk
The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC)
The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) is the umbrella organisation for all those who are involved in providing, commissioning and using palliative care and hospice services in England, Wales & Northern Ireland. NCPC promotes the extension and improvement of palliative care services for all people with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions. NCPC promotes palliative care in health and social care settings across all sectors to government, national and local policy makers.
For more information visit www.ncpc.org.uk
ACT
ACT is the only organisation working across the UK to achieve the best possible quality of life and care for every life-limited or life-threatened child or young person and their family.
ACT supports a children’s palliative care professional and family membership across the UK and provides a national helpline and information service. ACT produces a range of publications and resources, including care pathways for life-limited or life-threatened children and young people, and publishes the International Journal for Children’s Palliative Care.
ACT takes a lead on lobbying and campaigning for sustainable children’s palliative care services and plays a key role in ensuring that the needs of all affected children and their families are heard.
For more information visit www.act.org.uk
Big Lottery Fund
The UK wide Research programme is awarding grants to voluntary organisations that work with researchers to run high quality medical and social research projects. Grants for up to five years of between £10,000 and £500,000 are available to charities and voluntary sector organisations, with up to £1 million for exceptional projects.
