A Nurse for Every Need by Acorns Children's Hospice

More families need Acorns than ever before…

Help our nurses give care like no other

From the first breath to the last

There’s a famous phrase which says a truly great nurse is ‘difficult to part with and impossible to forget’. That, in essence, is the perfect description of an Acorns nurse.

Nurses are at the heart of what we do and make Acorns the special place it is. Without them there would be no Acorns.

The bonds between our nurses and the children and families they care for are strong and can last many years. Many parents describe them as like a member of the family.

From the diagnosis and beyond, whatever the journey, they are there.

Your gift of £25,000 could pay for five Acorns nurses to enrol on an essential Principles of Physical Assessment course, every year for the next five years. and took the time to get to know Grayson and you forge really good relationships with them. Because of that you trust them completely.

- Grayson’s mum, Becky

What Acorns Nurses do

Specialist Children’s Palliative Care Nurses at Acorns are trained to deliver the highest standards of care, tailored to the complex needs of the children they work with.

A typical shift for a nurse at Acorns means caring for children with conditions that require an extra layer of skill, experience and knowledge.

From extremely rare incurable genetic disorders such as Batten disease and Edwards’ syndrome, to more common conditions such as severe cerebral palsy. There may also be children with multiple disabilities as a result of a brain or spinal cord injury for example.

Our nurses must be proficient in a wide range of medical disciplines and skills. From the specialist equipment children use and the medication they take, to the family’s wishes when their child reaches the end of life. Each child will have their own unique needs and requirements.

Your gift of £25,000 could pay for ten Acorns nurses to enrol on a Non-medical Prescribing course, allowing

them to take on greater responsibility for the children in their care.

I feel very lucky to be part of Acorns. I think the staff are real life superheroes. I think it’s the most loving, nicest, friendliest and supportive place and a safe place. It’s just got that feeling.

- Vinnie’s mum, Claire

Increasing complexity

In our region, and the UK as a whole, welcome advances in medical care mean more children are living longer, with more complex needs.*

The education programme at Acorns is essential to ensure Acorns nurses keep their skills up-to-date and meet the increasingly complex and varied needs of the children they care for.

Due to the complexity of their conditions, many life limited or life threatened children require a wide range of medications to manage their symptoms. The Non-Medical Prescribing course offered to our nurses allows them to upskill and take on greater responsibility for the children they care for.

Education rooms at each of our hospices provide practical, hands-on training for our nurses. State-of-the-art medical manikins give care teams invaluable practice in everything from administering feeds via gastronomy tubes, to responding to medical emergencies.

Your gift of £25,000 could help pay for three Acorns nurses to enrol on an Advanced Clinical Practitioner course, allowing them to develop highly specialist skills, expertise and leadership.

The best part of my job is seeing our children and families’ journeys, whether they’re coming in towards the end and it’s the sad journey, or when we do silly things like bring the beach in, or have afternoon tea. Because the families, when they’re at home, they’re so regimented with what time the meds are, the appointments for this, the appointments for that. Coming here, they can just breathe, and I love that.

- Nickie Ford, Trainee Nurse Associate

*Fraser L. K. et al (2020) Make Every Child Count: Estimating current and future prevalence of children and young people with life-limiting conditions in the United Kingdom.

Beyond the clinical…

Acorns nurses are trained to provide care on a much deeper level, with an understanding that shows they know exactly what each family is going through, emotionally and spiritually.

Where specialist Acorns nurses particularly excel is providing the love and care a family need when their child reaches the end of life.

Ongoing bereavement training and education at Acorns is designed to support all grades of staff on how to listen and respond to children or families who may be distressed or concerned, providing a structure to care for families emotionally.

Our nurses work with more than 750 children and their families every single year, each one with their own individual needs and challenges. It’s care families couldn’t live without.

Your gift of £25,000 could help pay for a Super Tory S2220 Simulator manikin, transforming the training offer for our nurses, helping them meet the increasingly complex medical needs of the children they care for.

The growing need How you can help

What our Nurses do is amazing. However, demand for our vital services is growing at a time when recruiting skilled professionals is becoming increasingly difficult for children’s hospices like Acorns.

> There are an estimated 11,079 children with a life limiting condition in the West Midlands and Gloucestershire.

> This number has increased by 56% over the past decade and is expected to continue growing.*

> The average nurse vacancy rate in children’s hospices has risen to 18.6% compared to 12.2% in 2019, with a lack of trained professionals a significant factor in this rise.**

Your gift of £25,000 could pay for a state-of-the-art Sim Junior manikin, giving our nurses access to very latest in hands-on medical training equipment.

Acorns is facing the twin challenges of growing demand for our services and a shrinking pool of potential employees. Despite this, we are determined to reach every child and their family who needs us.

We can only do this with your support.

Ongoing learning and development is essential. It helps us nurture existing talent, attract potential new employees and allows us to grow a more sustainable workforce.

By supporting Acorns, you can help us upskill our staff and ensure existing specialist nurses are given the ongoing training and education they need to care for the growing numbers of children who rely on Acorns, now and in the future.

*Fraser L. K. et al (2020) Make Every Child Count: Estimating current and future prevalence of children and young people with life-limiting conditions in the United Kingdom. **Together for Short Lives, Children’s palliative care nursing workforce in crisis, 11 May 2022

Key benefits

By choosing to support our nurses you will be helping us ensure we can continue being there for hundreds of children and families across the West Midlands.

To show our appreciation and gratitude we would love to offer you:

> Several bespoke hospice tours, enabling you to come and see firsthand the difference your support will make to Acorns. We can host multiple tours for you at our Birmingham, Walsall and Worcester hospices.

> Meet a member of our Care team, giving you an opportunity to learn more about Acorns and ask questions.

> Photo opportunities at the hospices and at your offices. We would love to create a recognition opportunity for your contribution and organise photos of you and your teams to share on our social media.

> Bespoke piece of artwork created by an Acorns child just for you.

> Year-long showcased across 2024-25 showing your support, to inspire and motivate other businesses in the region.

> Bespoke social media posts to recognise your support across all of our social media platforms (X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook – circa 54,940 followers).

> Feature in an organic press release created by our PR and Communications team and sent to local media to recognise your support in the region, with an expected media audience reach of between 5 and 10 million.