We are delighted to announce that Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith have been named runners-up and recognised at the Starlight Innovation in Health Play Awards, in recognition of our work developing accessible and inclusive events for the children and families we support.

The awards, run by Starlight, the UK’s leading charity for play in children’s healthcare, celebrate healthcare professionals and organisations who use innovative approaches to improve children’s healthcare experiences.

Our team – including activities and play specialists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and family support workers – were recognised for creating a diverse and engaging programme of events that enable children with life-threatening conditions and their families to make precious memories together.

A Range of Activities

Over the past year, our activities specialists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and family support workers have joined forces to introduce a range of activities including:

• Forest school

• Sensory play sessions

• Swimming sessions

• Storytelling experiences

• Gardening, nature trail walks

• Rock music and drumming workshops

• Themed events at Halloween, Christmas, and Easter

• Inclusive family fun days

These events have been specially designed to offer meaningful opportunities that many families would otherwise find difficult to access due to cost, complexity, or their personal circumstances. They also provide vital chances for families to connect and support one another.

A Wonderful Recognition

We are incredibly proud of our teams at Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith for their creativity, compassion, and dedication to improving the lives of the children we care for. Being named a runner-up in these prestigious awards is a wonderful recognition of the impact they are making every day.

Esme Turner, the project lead, said the team was excited about the award: “Thank you so much for recognising the therapy teams’ hard work and dedication to making precious memories through play at family events at Tŷ Gobaith and Hope House.” 

Esme explained that many families reported that days out were not accessible or affordable for them and that they found it hard to find events and activities that catered to the specific needs of the whole family, for example it’s very hard to take a child with complex needs swimming so families don't get to go swimming together.

“Siblings talked about wanting to do normal family things and not being able to due to the needs of the child with a life-threatening condition. Families also told us that they wanted to spend time together making memories and that they felt isolated, and alone, so we wanted to create opportunities for families to come together. Friendships have been formed from these sessions and families have reported feeling less isolated,” added Esme. 

Moments That Will Stay Forever

Will and Susie joined us at the Starlight Awards

One family who regularly attend our hospice events shared how much these experiences mean to them, saying there is nowhere else locally where they can enjoy such special moments together in an environment that truly understands and supports their needs.

Eight-year-old Will Seymour visits Hope House for respite care and also joins in many of the activities with his mum Susie and dad Chris, making precious memories together as a family.

Susie. “When we first came here there were children playing and there was much going on. It’s the only place that we get any sense of normality as a family.”

The family have attended special sensory story time sessions, forest school, a winter wonderland at Christmas time, Easter egg hunts as well as other music and dance sessions.

“Will loves being outdoors in the gardens and adores all the attention that he gets. Watching him interact with the other children is also special because it doesn’t happen at home,” added Susie.

“These events are just set up for us as a family to come and enjoy these wonderful experiences with peace of mind. These are moments that will stay with us forever.”

Empowering Children

Sarah and Diane, from Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith's Activities Team

Karen Wright, Head of Care at Hope House Children’s Hospices, said:

“As children’s hospices we are here to give every local child with a life-threatening condition and their family access to professional care and improve their quality of life from the point of diagnosis.

“Being able to be creative and flexible in how we meet individual family’s needs and help them create those precious memories as a family truly meets our purpose. Empowering children to play and seeing the smiles on their faces is inspirational and the very best way to capture those quality moments.

“We are very grateful to Starlight for all the support they have given to us to help us meet our purpose, with the children and their families at the heart of everything that we do.”

Cathy Gilman, Chief Executive of Starlight, said: 

“We loved the hospice team’s innovation of setting up a programme of fun and playful events for families. We admire how they asked them about the barriers to accessing community activities so they could develop a programme specifically tailored to their needs - bringing play into the lives of the whole family, boosting wellbeing.

"Their work demonstrates the remarkable impact this can have on building connections, helping them feel less isolated and more included. We particularly wanted to celebrate the positive impact that health play can have in a non-hospital setting, which is often less understood and underappreciated.”