The Sick Children's Trust


The Sick Children's Trust is a national charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1982, providing 'Home from Home' accommodation at hospitals around the United Kingdom. The Sick Children's Trust believes keeping families together significantly improves the recovery of seriously ill children. The charity provides free, high-quality 'Home from Home' accommodation, as well as emotional and practical support to families with seriously ill children in hospital. The charity currently has ten houses, in London, Leeds, Cambridge, Sheffield and Newcastle upon Tyne, which support over 4,000 families every year.
The Sick Children's Trust was founded in 1982 by two paediatric specialists, Dr Jon Pritchard and Professor James Malpas, who believed that having parents on hand during hospital treatment benefited a child's recovery. It is the longest-serving charity providing ‘Home from Home’ accommodation in the UK.
On аvеrаgе, 2 million сhіldrеn in the UK rеԛuіrе hоѕріtаl trеаtmеnt each уеаr. Every day, children are diagnosed with ѕеrіоuѕ and lіfе-thrеаtеning illnesses оr have terrible accidents that lеаvе thеm fіghting for life. Thеу оftеn have to be transferred to specialist hospitals far from home to receive critical mеdісаl treatment. Lіfе for thеіr whоlе fаmіlу is ѕuddеnlу thrоwn into соmрlеtе turmoil.
When their child is receiving treatment in hospital for a serious or life-limiting illness, parents can stay at the charity's 'Homes from Home', free of charge, so that they can be close to their child and keep the family unit together.
The charity's original board included Jon Pritchard, a doctor who specialized in childhood cancers, and Audrey Callaghan, then chair of the board of governors at Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children's hospital in London.