East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) is launching an exciting new care strategy setting out how it will grow and transform services to support more families.
‘Making more possible – reaching further, together’ is an ambitious five-year plan underpinned by seven key commitments that outline the charity’s vision for the future.
Today’s public launch comes during national Children’s Hospice Week – the only week of the year dedicated to raising awareness of children’s hospice services across the UK and marked with a special message of support for all UK children’s hospices from EACH’s Royal Patron, HRH The Princess of Wales, on Monday.
It includes a powerful new film featuring a bereaved father, whose three-year-old son received care at The Treehouse, in Ipswich.
EACH Chief Executive Kevin Clements says the strategy builds on decades of experience while also confronting a stark reality that not every family who needs support is currently able to access it.
“We’re proud of the part we’ve played in shaping children’s palliative care over many years and that same sense of purpose and partnership sits at the heart of our new strategy,” he said.
“However, we’re determined to make more possible by strengthening what we already have, expanding our reach and responding to the unmet need we know is out there.
“Families, employees and care partners have helped us identify not only what we do well, but where gaps still exist and where some families struggle to get the support they need.
“‘Making more possible – reaching further, together’ is our promise to grow, to listen, to challenge ourselves, and to make sure every child, young person and family who needs us feels supported, welcomed and never alone.”
The strategy also highlights a commitment to continue championing for consistent, sustainable statutory funding, while challenging misconceptions about hospice care.
It has been shaped through extensive co-production with families, staff and healthcare partners, ensuring lived experience sits at its core.
Families were asked to share their priorities, challenges and experiences to identify where services were working well and where gaps remain.
“From the very beginning, we wanted this work to be informed by – and genuinely co-produced with – the families we support, our employees and the communities around us,” said Helen Finlinson, EACH’s Director of Care.
“Their voices have been at the heart of every step, and we invited everyone to join us on the journey.
“Every perspective helped us see what’s working well – and where we can do more or do things differently.
“The insights, experiences and voices of those we support, and those we have yet to reach, have helped shape a strategy that is real, relevant and rooted in what people told us they need most. It is built with families, not just for families.”
The new strategy sets out seven key commitments guiding EACH’s work through to 2031.
These are to ‘Make more possible with our resources’, ‘Collaborate’, ‘Enhance care through technology’, ‘Co-produce care with families and communities’, ‘Be inclusive’, ‘Enable belonging’ and ‘Advance children’s palliative care’.
The launch is being marked with the release of a short film showcasing why the strategy matters and the difference it will make.
It highlights the real-life impact on families and includes a moving contribution from dad David Bedwell, whose son, Wilfred, had Mucopolysaccharidosis Type II (MPS II), also known as Hunter syndrome, and died at The Treehouse in April 2025.
You can watch the film by clicking here.
