Children's Hospice South West (CHSW) is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

that provides

palliative Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

, respite, end of life and bereavement care for life-limited and terminally ill children and their families from the

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

region. It oversees three of the 41

children's hospice A children's hospice is a hospice specifically designed to help children and young people who are not expected to reach adulthood with the emotional and physical challenges they face, and also to provide respite care for their families. Services ...

s in the United Kingdom.

History

CHSW was founded by Jill and Eddie Farwell in 1991, after spending many years travelling to

Helen & Douglas House Helen & Douglas House is a registered hospice charity (no. 1085951) based in Oxford, England, providing palliative, respite, end-of-life and bereavement care to life-limited children and their families. History Helen House was the world' ...

in Oxford with their own two life-limited children. Following a feasibility study, they raised funds and Little Bridge House at Fremington near

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

opened in 1995, and instantly provided support for up to 200 families in the South West with life limited children. The second hospice, Charlton Farm at Wraxall,

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary authorities of England, unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non ...

near

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, opened its doors to the first families in April 2007. The third hospice, Little Harbour, opened at Porthpean,

St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell wa ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in 2011. It offers a more local service to families from Cornwall and Plymouth. Children's Hospice South West's £5million Precious Lives Appeal was set up to fund the building of this third hospice.

Finances

In the year ending March 2020, CHSW's income was £15.8million, which included £2.6M of government contracts and grants. It spent £5.8M on raising funds and £9.3M on running the hospices.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Children's charities based in England Hospices in England 1991 establishments in England Health in Devon Health in Cornwall Health in Somerset