ONE SIZE FITS ALL DOESN'T WORK FOR CHILDREN IN HOSPICES

Local Leicestershire Hospice Gets 2 Electric Beds thanks to Community Spirit

The reality of a "one-size-fits-all" world means that, too often, those who don't fit the parameters are left floundering.

This is particularly apparent when ill and vulnerable children are involved. UK hospices do heroic work with children and families throughout the country. Many people think that they are funded by Government or Local Authorities and take for granted that the service will be there for them if needed. Sadly, this is far from true and hospices depend on donations to keep going.

One such case is Rainbows, the only Children's Hospice for the East Midlands.

Rainbows approached The Forester's Fund for Children, asking for grant support for 2 urgently-needed electric beds and Alex Clark, CE of the Charity had this to say about FFFC's reaction:

"As FFFC is a grant-making charity that has been going for many years now, we are well positioned to spot trends in the needs of children's charities and organisations in the UK. We, ourselves, rely on donations to turn around and give out again as grants and, in this restive economic climate, we must be very careful about the grants we approve. We wish we could help them all, but that would take a large influx of donation support. As it stands, while our grants are not the largest due to our limited funds, they have a real impact on the small, primarily local charities we help. Nothing gets lost in a large pot! Sometimes an FFFC grant can mean the difference between a charity or group continuing it's vital work in the community or closure.

Of late, we have noticed a disturbing trend, with a large increase in requests for support from Hospices. We were particularly impressed with the work of Rainbows and their determination to give all the children in their care the dignity and services that are needed. Their focus on individual needs played a large part in our decision to approve their request, and we are delighted to have been able to help. However, our funds are severely limited and we were only able to provide a grant for one bed. We didn't think this was good enough, so we went 'begging' to Vardis, who publish our Handbooks and do so much more for the Fund.

When we told them of Rainbow's need, they immediately offered to fund the other bed. This kind of generosity of spirit is sometimes forgotten in today's frantic pace. But just look what can happen when everybody pulls together."

Local communities are being asked more and more to take charge of the special needs of those in their area. There is no easy solution, but community welfare is dependent on communal support.

Foresters' Fund for Children

FFFC uniquely helps others to help children by giving grants primarily to the small, local children's charities throughout the UK that urgently need help but find it difficult to compete for funds with larger charities. Over the years, The Fund has helped over 500,000 children. Your support means support for more vulnerable children.