The UK’s only baby-specific hospice launches ‘Pay for a Day’ campaign


The UK’s only baby-specific hospice is calling on West Midlands businesses to get involved in their ‘Pay for a Day' scheme.

The UK’s only baby-specific hospice, Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice, is launching a new ‘Pay for a Day’ scheme at its Coventry hospice, which is encouraging organisations in the West Midlands and across the UK to pledge to ‘Pay for a Day’ of care, which currently costs the hospice £3,300.

The new campaign comes in celebration of the Coventry hospice’s tenth year anniversary, which the charity will be celebrating throughout the year with a series of planned events and initiatives.

The charity is aiming to secure 100 pledges from organisations by June, which, when combined, would fund at least one hundred days of care to the children it looks after throughout 2021 and beyond.

Each organisation that gets involved will be able to pay for as many days of care as they wish, whilst also having the option to choose the specific day(s) they would like their care to be provided, availability depending.

Once a pledge has been made, the participating organisations will receive a tour of the hospice on the day for which they have donated care; a certificate acknowledging their pledge; a chance to leave a message to the families the charity cares for in a dedicated guest book; benefit from regional and national publicity opportunities; receive mentions on the charity’s social media accounts and will be featured on the Zoë’s Place website.

Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice operates three hospices in Coventry, Liverpool and Middlesbrough, and provides palliative, respite and end-of-life care to babies and infants suffering from life-threatening and life-limiting conditions – in addition to offering support to their families.

The families that use the hospices have access to a knowledgeable, supportive and experienced network of care specialists such as nurses and play specialists, who are trained in a variety of disciplines such as dispensing medicine, enteral feeding and tracheostomy and ventilator care.

Each child that visits the hospice receives their own tailored care plan, designed by the care team, which may include physiotherapy, play activities that enhance a child’s learning or communications skills and group activities such as animal or music therapy.

Whilst a child is at the hospice – which maybe for a day of respite or an overnight stay - parents and guardians have the time to catch up on the housework, devote time to their child’s siblings or, more simply, catch up on sleep.

The funds raised through the ‘Pay for a Day’ campaign will be positively and directly impacting these families who, without the support of Zoë’s Place, would not have the additional support network and external lifeline it provides.

Helen Young, Managing Director at Arden Fine Foods, one of the companies that have already signed up to ‘Pay for a Day’, said:

“Here at Arden Foods, we are keen supporters of Zoë’s Place and full of admiration for the incredible work they do in providing care and respite for children and their families with life-limiting conditions.

“Taking part in ‘Pay for a Day’ is an honour for us and simply being able to help with providing funding for the incredible staff to do what they so love to do is just perfect.

“Zoë’s Place has been close to our hearts for many years now and have visited on many occasions we simply cannot deny that a little bit of the Arden Heart is now permanently based at Zoë’s.

“Arden benefit in a very special way from our relationship with Zoë’s and that is quite simply the pleasure of doing our bit as individuals and as a team, there is little we can do to add value to the lives of the children & their family but if we can support the staff at the hospice then we can feel proud.

“It is important that local businesses consider Zoë’s Place as a charity of their choice, just as Arden did some years ago, as you really can make a difference to the lives of others, give back to those who really do need it and feel proud of yourselves.

“The relationship we have with the team at Zoë’s Place is incredibly important to us, we feel like a part of the Zoë’s Family, and that is something very special to any business owner or staff member, so I really do encourage others to get involved and offer their support.”

Ian Carr, Head of Fundraising, Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice, said:

“Like many other charities, Zoë’s Place has suffered during the pandemic, experiencing a plummet in donations, which has concluded in a reduction of forty percent of its workforce.

“As such, the charity is currently operating a reduced service, which means that there are still families that haven’t received the vital care and support they so desperately need and deserve to have since March of 2020. It also means that we are not the 24/7 operation we used to be, instead, only opening for four days/nights a week.

“We are, of course, celebrating our ten year anniversary, but it goes deeper than that; in a year like no other, we wanted to find a way to bring the business community closer together, whilst simultaneously helping the hospice get back to where it once was.

“By pledging to ‘Pay for a Day’ of care, businesses alike will not only be helping the charity to achieve its mission, but also give their own employees something meaningful and exciting to be involved in at a time where motivation, engagement and excitement may be lacking.”

If you would like more information on how to get involved in the charity’s ‘Pay for a Day’ campaign or would like to make a pledge, then you can visit the webpage by clicking here.

You can also contact Corporate and Major Donor Fundraiser, Tanita Mistry, at [email protected] or 0247 361 675.

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