HOW WE HELP

We work to support recently bereaved families where a child has died and help families who have children with life limiting disabilities and terminal illnesses on the Isle of Wight. We try to remain as flexible as possible in how we help the families who need it, as we understand that every family, child and circumstance are all different and personal to them. The majority of our financial support goes toward helping families with weekly financial assistance when undergoing mainland treatment under our Crisis Aid programme. We also work to support the local hospital, other organisations and the community teams in improving facilities and services where possible for families.

To ensure we help only families that truly need it, we work closely with the Children's Community Nursing Team and other departments at St Mary's Hospital on the Isle of Wight, where we get the majority of our referrals. We also work closely with other local and national charities, networking to ensure that families get the best overall care package that is possible for their circumstances.



WHY WE HELP

We help because we understand what it is like to go through the trauma of having a terminally ill child. Whilst the teams did a fantastic job in caring for us, going out of their way to do small things for us that made all the difference, we also saw gaps in the service provision that needed to be filled. We understand that going to the mainland on a regular basis can take its toll on the finances, as whilst people can get some reimbursement for one-off appointments on the mainland, you don't get back and forth reimbursement whilst your child remains in hospital. Couple this with having to take unpaid leave, whilst balancing other childcare, food, bills and everything else, it can sometimes have a detrimental impact on finances and have a knock on effect elsewhere. We also understand that it is sometimes the little things that make a difference so we work to develop a number of projects that aim to provide an extra layer of support.