Care Where You Need It

When a family feels alone... Help

reduce their isolation

A parent is alone and scared. It’s the loneliest time of their lives.

When a child receives a life limiting or life threatening diagnosis, a family’s world is turned upside down. It’s terrifying and isolating, but you can help.

You can make sure that no family feels alone in caring for a sick child. You can help Acorns give them the support they need and answers to all their questions.

We change lives by guiding families throughout their child’s life and beyond, by providing care in our hospices, by reaching out into family homes and into the community.

Going directly to them means they get care beyond our hospice hometowns and cities of Birmingham, Walsall and Worcester - and into the farthest reaches of our region, in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Coventry, Warwickshire, Shropshire and South Staffordshire.

Your gift of £25,000 allows us to help the family where they need us most.

Some families, for many different reasons, don’t want or don’t feel that the hospice building itself is what they want; so the fact we can go to them and still offer that amazing care is absolutely essential.

- Ruth Davis, Outreach Nurse

Help us be there

- no matter the distance

Our Outreach service gives a family greater choice on how and where they want our help.

This means we can not only provide care at our three hospices, but also reach hundreds more children and families, providing support in their hour of need at home, in hospital and in their local community.

By going directly to families, we support those who can’t come to us. It reduces their isolation when they desperately need help and ensures that they know we are here for them whenever and wherever they need us.

Your gift of £25,000 will mean these vital services can continue. Without us, families would be facing unimaginable struggles completely alone.

Acorns Outreach service gives mum Liga peace of mind

When you get help from Outreach, they come to your home and you don’t need to worry. It’s amazing. I have the confidence to do other things, when before I couldn’t even leave Laila’s side.

We couldn’t be without Acorns. There is literally no-one else that can offer this kind of support. Thanks to them, Laila is planning to go to school for the very first time.

- Laila’s mum,

Liga

Help us create support communities

We reach even further out into the community – with the important message that ‘you’re not the only one’.

At Acorns, for every one child we care for, we support as many as five other family members. Our support groups enable mums, dads, grandparents and their children to come together, share experiences and chat in a safe and relaxed environment.

We also run groups at a play area called SNAP (Special Needs Adventure Playground). It’s an amazing space for children and their siblings to play together and allows families to ask questions and create support networks with people who understand their thoughts, feelings and worries - improving the mental health of those we support.

Your gift of £25,000 means we connect more families through dedicated community support groups and play sessions, helping them to feel less alone.

gives them reassurance they’re not going through things alone. Within our support groups, we embed therapeutic intervention, which enhances self-care, mindfulness and good mental health. They have that time to pause and reflect and to feel, for want of a better word, normal.

- Fiona Small, Family Practitioner

The growing need

In the past year, we have seen significant and unexpected growth in the level of support we provide for children and families.

In the past year...

> We supported more than 170 children through Outreach services

> There have been more than 15,000 instances of emotional and practical support delivered by the Acorns Family Services team

> We have cared for more than 750 children across the West Midlands, and supported almost 1,000 families

> It has cost us £350,000 to maintain our Outreach

> In total, Acorns needs around £30,000 each day to provide its children’s hospice care

Only with your support can we grow our vital Outreach services by 15% and bring more of our lifeline care and support directly to families in need by creating vital community hubs in Warwickshire and Gloucestershire.

Bluebell, and I can step away to catch up and do a bit of cleaning.

To provide constant care can be quite a toll on you so it’s priceless having someone who you can trust to look after your child.

- Bluebell’s mum, Stella

Key benefits

By choosing to support our vital Outreach services you will be helping us ensure we can continue being there for hundreds of children and families across the West Midlands, wherever they need us.

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 Outreach team , giving you an opportunity to learn more about Acorns and our Outreach service.

> 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 feature on the Acorns website, having your logo 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.

Help us support every step and beyond

Without our help in the home, community and lifeline network of support groups, families would be navigating this unimaginable journey alone. With your help, we can continue to bring people together, to meet new people, to make precious memories, talk about worries and share things that only families on similar journeys would understand. Your gift of £25,000 will ensure this never stops.

The need to support families in their homes and community is greater than ever. We cannot sustain this lifeline

Together, we are stronger both inside our hospices and in our local community.

Watch our video about Outreach services