Helen & Douglas House cares for children and young adults with life shortening conditions, as well as their families. Our aim is to help every young person - aged from birth to 35 live life to the full....even when that life is short. The children and young adults come to Helen & Douglas House for respite care, (which is a bit like a holiday), as well as end of life care.

Helen House was built in 1982 and it was the first children’s hospice in the world! Children from birth to 16 years old are cared for at Helen House. It is based around the family home and therefore has a very cosy feel about it.

Douglas House is for teenagers and young adults, between the ages of 16 and 35 years old. When it was built in 2004, it was the first hospice in the world to provide care for this age group. Douglas House is much more like a 5* hotel, which is just how our guests like it!

The idea to build the world’s first children’s hospice came about in the early 1980’s. Sister Frances Dominica, the hospice’s founder, befriended the family of a very ill little girl, called Helen. She helped to look after Helen sometimes, in order to give Helen’s parents a break. Sister Frances realised that there must be other families, like Helen’s, who could also benefit from support, so she built Helen House. There are currently 44 children’s hospices in the UK and at least one on every continent!

There are 8 bedrooms in Helen House and 7 bedrooms in Douglas House. In each house, at least one bedroom is left vacant for emergencies. The others are booked out for respite care. The bedrooms are designed to meet the needs of the children and young adults who are staying in them. This means that they sometimes need specialist equipment in them, such as hoists.

Looking after and supporting the whole family is very important to us at Helen & Douglas House. We have 2 family flats in each house so that the whole family can stay together. Sometimes the children and young adults prefer their parents to go home though, which is also fine!

Each house provides many different facilities for the children and young adults to use and have fun in.

Many of the children and young adults who stay with us like to go on trips out. These have included; camping at a festival, concerts in London, trips to the cinema and go-karting! We also have visitors to the houses. Animals, like Stumpy the lemur, are always very popular!

The Elephant Club is a club we run specifically for the siblings of the children and young adults who we help to look after. Having a brother or sister with a life shortening condition, or one who has already passed away, can be an incredibly difficult thing to cope with as a child. The Elephant Club gives them the opportunity to be with other children who understand what they are going through.

It costs £5 million a year to run the two hospice houses. 80% of that comes from voluntary donations from generous people, such as yourselves. Schools take part in all sorts of fundraising activities to raise money for Helen & Douglas House. These include; talent shows, discos, cake sales, mad hair days and many more! What will your school do?

Thank you from everybody at Helen & Douglas House.