Morrisons Building a Legacy Together Grant in partnership with Together For Short Lives funds garden paths upgrade for Little Havens

A grant funded by Morrisons through its partnership with Together for Short Lives, has funded a vital garden project at Essex’s only children’s hospice, Little Havens.

The Building a Legacy Together Grant worth £49,975 has paid for essential upgrades to the sensory garden paths at the hospice based in Thundersley, Essex, which were last updated around 20 years ago.

Earlier this week, representatives from Together for Short Lives, the UK charity which supports families and professionals caring for children with life-limiting conditions, and Morrisons in Canvey Island, visited the hospice to see the spruced-up areas they helped fund for the first time.

Morrisons and Together for Short Lives partnership started in February 2022 and is raising vital funds for children’s hospices across the country and helping families make precious memories together. Together, they launched the Building a Legacy Together Grant last summer. The grant aims to help children’s hospices across the country pay for things like renovations, new outdoor spaces and therapy equipment to ensure families caring for a life-limited child can be supported in a comforting, joyful environment.

The sensory gardens at Little Havens are an important part of the services the hospice offers and are well-used and loved by the hundreds of families they care for. Thanks to the building works, which took four weeks, the paths are now more accessible to local families with additional needs, including wheelchair users, creating a much wider, even and smoother surface for wheelchairs, powered chairs, bicycles and pushchairs.

Stevie Brown, Trust and Grants Fundraising Officer at Havens Hospices, the charity of which Little Havens is a part of says: “Families at Little Havens adore the incredible gardens here which enhance their emotional wellbeing during the most difficult times. Our vast landscaped and accessible gardens offer families a safe haven, a place to escape and reflect, where the whole family can enjoy making precious memories, come rain or shine.

“Growing tree roots over the years deemed some paths unusable for wheelchair users so these essential works – which were made possible thanks to the incredible support from Together for Short Lives and Morrisons – are making a huge difference to families who rely on the services at Little Havens, helping them to make every day count. Our specialist care and support for children and young people living with incurable conditions is only possible thanks to the kindness of the community.”

Together for Short Lives Director of Fundraising, Nick Carroll says: “We are proud to see the fruits of our partnership with Morrisons come to life in such a meaningful way. The sensory garden path upgrade at Havens Hospices was made possible by the Building a Legacy Grant, with thanks to Morrisons partnership fundraising. The grant, which was launched last summer, has already had a huge impact on a number of hospices across the country just like Havens Hospices. We know that the these vital works will make a huge difference for the families supported by Havens Hospices.”

Morrisons Corporate Affairs Director, David Scott says: “As part of Morrisons’ commitment to giving back to our communities, we are proud to be funding the sensory garden path upgrade at Havens Hospices through our partnership with Together for Short Lives. This is what the Building a Legacy Together Grant is all about. We are confident that the project will make a difference to the families Havens Hospices support.”

Morrisons hopes to raise £10 million for the partnership by October 2024. To find out more about the Building a Legacy Together Grant please follow the link: https://bit.ly/3RNOLuz

To find out more about Little Havens and how it supports children, young people and families across Essex, visit www.havenshospices.org.uk

Published 27th March 2024

 

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Representatives from Morrisons Canvey Island and Havens Hospices unveiling new paths at Little Havens