Duchess of Cambridge records video for Children's Hospice Week

Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, is celebrating Children’s Hospice Week, and has recorded her first ever video message to encourage people to support their local children’s hospice service.

The video message will be aired for the first time on Sunday April 28th to celebrate Children’s Hospice Week (April 26th – May 3rd) which is the UK wide awareness and fundraising campaign celebrating the work of children’s hospices and palliative care services. The week is run by Together for Short Lives, the UK children’s palliative care charity. You can click on the video to the right which can also be viewed at the Together for Short Lives website: www.togetherforshortlives.org.uk

In this inaugural video message, Her Royal Highness, as Royal Patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH), talks about her personal experience of seeing first-hand the remarkable work that EACH does for children and their families. Through this patronage Her Royal Highness wants to raise awareness of the vital care and support all the UK children’s hospices and palliative care services provide.

In her video message Her Royal Highness states: “As Patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices I have been fortunate to see at first hand the remarkable work that they do for children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families. It is simply transformational.

“There are 49 children’s hospice services across the UK, all providing similar invaluable and life enhancing care to thousands of families.

“Children’s Hospice Week is a time to recognise, celebrate and support the inspirational work of those hospices, and those who provide palliative care to these children and families. Children’s hospices provide lifelines to families at a time of unimaginable pain. The support they give is vital.

“In order to carry out this wonderful work, our help is needed.  With our support, those providing children’s palliative care can continue to offer these extraordinary services.  It does not bear thinking about what these families would do without this.

“I hope that you will join me this Children’s Hospice Week in supporting your local service. To find out more about how you can help, please visit togetherforshortlives.org.uk

“With your support, we can help ensure that these children and their families can make the most of the precious time they have together.”

You can view Her Royal Highness’s video message at www.togetherforshortlives.org.uk  and www.each.org.uk

Welcoming The Duchess’s support, Barbara Gelb, CEO of Together for Short Lives said:

“I am so delighted and very excited that Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, as Royal Patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, has generously given her support to Children’s Hospice Week. I know this extraordinary backing will mean so much to all the UK’s 49,000 children with palliative care needs and their families and will really help raise awareness of what these families need, today and in the future.”

“The Duchess’s message will be a real boost to children’s hospices and all the charities that deliver vital health and social care to these families. These services rely on donations so they can help children and families make the most of the precious time they have together. I hope that the public will be inspired by Her Royal Highness to join us this Children’s Hospice Week by supporting their local service”.

Children’s Hospice Week is organised by Together for Short Lives, the UK charity for children and young people with life-limiting conditions and all those who love and care for them. The week is the only UK wide awareness and fundraising campaign that celebrates the work of children’s hospices and children’s palliative care services that provide vital care to children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions, and their families. The week’s activities culminate with Superhero Friday (3 May) – a special day of hero inspired fundraising. Visit www.togetherforshortlives.org.uk to find out more.

Graham Butland, EACH Chief Executive, said: “The Duchess of Cambridge in her role as Royal Patron has brought great benefits to EACH. Her Royal Highness’s involvement helps us to celebrate and raise awareness of the care and support we provide to life-threatened children and their families across East Anglia. To have our work recognised in this way has also given a great boost to the families we support, as well as our staff, supporters and volunteers.

“We’re delighted to have Her Royal Highness’s support during Children’s Hospice Week, not only for EACH but for all children’s hospices and palliative care services across the UK.”

To view the video message recorded by The Duchess of Cambridge and to find out more about Children’s Hospice Week visit: www.togetherforshortlives.org.uk or www.each.org.uk