Havens Hospices’ Big Christmas ‘YES!’ Appeal is hoping to raise more than £223,000 this festive season to help fund its specialist care and support over the month of December.

The charity, which includes Fair Havens in Prittlewell and Little Havens children’s hospice in Thundersley, is calling on the community to support its nursing teams to say ‘Yes!’ to every child and adult who wants something special, no matter how big or small, because for most, it will be their last Christmas.

The nursing teams at the hospice always try to say ‘Yes!’, no matter what that means, because there often won’t be another chance for that patient to have their wish granted.

Archie was like any other three-year-old little boy – happy, energetic and inquisitive – when, in February 2021, he was diagnosed with a DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma) brain tumour. Towards the end of 2022, Little Havens became a place where the whole family would spend time together as Archie’s condition deteriorated.

Simon Lambert, Archie’s dad said, “Everything Archie needed or wanted, the answer was always “Yes!” at Little Havens. We managed to have one last Christmas at home together before we came to Little Havens in January 2023 for care at the end of Archie’s life. Being at Little Havens helped us concentrate on Archie as opposed to all the other distractions in the home. At Little Havens, we could wheel him out into the gardens or take him into the jacuzzi bath.”

Simon continues, “One moment we’ll never forget is when Archie was very poorly towards the end of his life. One of the nurses got into a Pikachu costume and went to see Archie in the garden. We will never forget his face at that moment, how his eyes opened so wide and shone for the first time in weeks. That’s the face we see now, every time we think of him.”

This type of specialist care and support towards the end of a person’s life is only possible at Havens Hospices, thanks to the kindness and generosity of the local community.

This Christmas, holding a festive fundraiser could help the charity raise vital funds to care for more local children like Archie and help the nursing teams at the hospices to say ‘Yes!’. Whether that’s holding a Christmas Jumper Day, a Christmas Quiz or a festive bake sale, there are lots of jolly ways to support Havens Hospices this Christmas.

For more information about fundraising or making a one-off donation, visit havenshospices.org.uk/Christmas

Published 3rd December 2024