Havens Hospices, which has two hospices based in Prittlewell and Thundersley, has two films nominated in the Smiley Charity Film Awards. With enough votes, the charity will be shortlisted for the next round of voting.

This follows another successful year of being shortlisted for two films and winning the People’s Choice Silver Prize in 2023 for its film ‘Dying Matters at Havens Hospices’.

Nominated alongside well-known national charities such as Barnardo’s and Oxfam GB, its two films nominated focus on two families that use the services of Little Havens, Essex’s only children’s hospice.

One of the films tells the story of Elijah, who was diagnosed just hours after his premature birth at 31 weeks with a rare virus infection, causing a number of other complex conditions that affected his brain and development. The damage to his brain meant his family knew his life would be limited.

Just a month after sharing their experiences of Little Havens in this film, an infection became too much for Elijah to cope with. The family came to Little Havens to spend Elijah’s last few days together.

The second film shortlisted ‘Holding onto moments of Joy’ tells the story of Oscar whose family is supported by Little Havens – emotionally, with respite at home and symptom management care to help control Oscar’s pain.

Amy Dearing, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Havens Hospices, says, “Once again, we’re over the moon to be nominated for two of our films. Thanks to our amazing community’s support last year two of our films made it to the next round and we even won Silver, which meant so much to everybody at the charity.

“Storytelling, through film in particular, is a powerful tool that helps us raise awareness of our work and the impact our supporters’ donations have on the families we care for.

“We’re honoured to be able to tell the stories of families that rely on our care and we cannot thank them enough for sharing their experiences and highlighting the vital work we provide, often described as a ‘lifeline.’ Please vote for Havens Hospices, it’s free, takes less than a minute and will mean the world to the charity and those we’re supporting.”

To vote for Havens Hospices’ two films, visit https://smileycharityfilmawards.com/films/elijahs-story and https://smileycharityfilmawards.com/films/holding-onto-moments-of-joy-oscars-story

by Wednesday 24th January.

To see more of the charity’s films, visit www.youtube.com/havenshospices

Published on 15th January 2024