Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge, Royal Patron of EACH, today attended our celebration of our new Norfolk hospice, The Nook.
The royal visit came after a five-year public appeal to raise £10 million, exactly two years since the first ‘turf cutting’ at our site and just over a month since EACH welcomed the first child through the doors to receive care.
The Duchess toured the facilities, including a hydrotherapy pool and state-of-the-art sensory room, meeting children and their families along the way.
She also made a short speech to some 300 invited guests before being joined by some of the children to unveil a plaque and formally open our purpose-built hospice in Framingham Earl, around five miles south of Norwich.
The Duchess attended the launch of our fundraising appeal at the Norfolk Showground in November 2014. She also visited our previous Norfolk hospice in Quidenham, in January 2017, to receive an update on the appeal and hear more about plans for the new building.
Tracy Rennie, EACH Acting Chief Executive, said: “It’s always a pleasure when Her Royal Highness visits, but today felt like a particularly momentous celebration given how long in the making this building has been and the Duchess’s previous support for the fundraising appeal.
“The Nook has been a superb achievement by everyone here as well as all our volunteers and supporters across Norfolk, and even further afield, and this was reflected in the kind words shared by the Duchess with invited guests.
“We’re now in no doubt the way we deliver care in future will take great steps forward and give us an opportunity to try out doing things differently, and it’s obviously amazing knowing we have the backing of the Duchess.”
The Duchess became EACH Royal Patron in January 2012, officially opening our hospice in Ipswich, The Treehouse, shortly after. She has since done a great deal to help raise awareness and understanding of EACH, and children’s hospices across the world.
EACH Norfolk has previously been based on the site of the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham. It was a home-from-home for over 25 years, but we outgrew it. The Nook is a 21st century building to provide 21st century care, spread across a single floor, with more areas for clinical care, larger and better equipped en-suite bedrooms, dedicated therapy rooms and much more. It will allow us to fully cater for an increased demand for our service and the ever-changing and more complex needs of those we care for. Set on a five-acre woodland site, closer to the centre of the county, hospitals and road networks, it also means the majority of families and staff will travel shorter distances to receive and deliver care.
For more information about The Nook and how to get involved in fundraising visit here.
The Nook opening event was kindly sponsored by Kelling Designs, an established international interior design company based in Chelsea, London, and Norfolk. Emma Deterding, Founder and Director, and also an EACH Patron, said: “We’ve supported EACH for many years and are thrilled to be sponsoring the official opening of The Nook. It’s incredible to see The Nook become a reality. It will truly transform the care EACH is able to give to children and families in Norfolk, and we’re delighted to support the appeal.”
The event was also generously sponsored by the Hotel Folk, a group that owns six distinctive hotels and event venues across Suffolk, including Swan at Lavenham Hotel and Spa, Brudenell and White Lion in Aldeburgh, Crown at Woodbridge, Crown and Castle in Orford, Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel and Thorpeness Country Club.
