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These are just a few of the questions that we get asked regularly.

If yours isn’t among them, then please just us and we’ll try to answer it for you. And if we can’t, we’ll point you in the direction of someone who can. For a list of other organisations that might be of help, please .

If you’d like to know how you can make a big difference to the lives of the children and the many ways in which you can donate, please

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions:

Q: How many people will benefit from the charity's work?
Q: What sort of conditions would the children using your hospice service have?
Q: Why is a children’s hospice service so important – surely the NHS provides assistance?
Q: What kind of support does a hospice service offer?
Q: What is your catchment area?
Q: Do you get any government funding?
Q: Do you have a governing body?
Q: How can I help to fundraise?

Answers:

Q: How many people will benefit from the charity’s work?
Our aim is to help children in North London and South Hertfordshire. There are an estimated 350 children within this catchment who have a life-limited or life-threatened condition.

Q: What sort of conditions would the children using your hospice service have?
Despite the usual misconception of a hospice, it is not always children suffering from cancer who would use our services. Any child under the age of under the age of 19 with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition will be able to be referred to Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice. Whilst a proportion of children within hospices suffer from cancer, the majority suffer from long term progressive disorders such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Batten's Disease and Cystic Fibrosis. For more details, please call us on 020 8449 8877.

Q: Why is a children’s hospice service so important – surely the NHS provides assistance?
At present children’s hospices receive little or no funding from the Government. Whilst the NHS can offer families medical and practical treatment, there is inadequate provision for respite care or general day-to-day support. Often it is this type of support that a family desperately needs. Caring for a sick child 24 hours a day is incredibly tiring and, especially if there are other siblings or family members also requiring time and attention, the stress can often be overwhelming for a parent or carer. Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice hopes to make these difficult times a little easier to bear.

Q: What kind of support does a hospice service offer?

Specialist palliative care, respite care, emergency, and terminal care. All of this may be within a hospice environment or within the child's home.

Bereavement counselling and support, typically offered as individual home support, as well as groups; and work with brothers or sisters.

Information, advice and practical assistance.

24 hour telephone support.

A system of contacts or key workers who work with named children and families to ensure support is consistent and continued between visits.

Q: What is your catchment area?
Our aim is to establish a hospice service local to the communities of Enfield, Barnet, Camden, Islington and Haringey.

Q: Do you get any government funding?
NO. Children’s hospices currently receive little or no statutory funding – therefore children’s hospices themselves must raise the funds to build and run these essential lifelines.

Q: Do you have a governing body?
We are a member of Childrens Hospices UK (the Association of Children’s Hospices) – for further information please visit their website: .

Q: How can I help to fundraise?
Literally anything goes – from running a marathon to shaking a tin at the local supermarket. For more information, please visit our fundraising section. One of the simplest ways to support us is to give a small amount on a regular basis (for example Ł5 each month). This helps us to plan for the future safe in the knowledge that at least some of our income is guaranteed.

Useful Links

This section includes links to other organisations and sources of help/advice which you may find useful.

Please note that Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Scroll down the page for the following categories:

General hospice information

Other children's hospices

Charities and support groups for particular conditions

Health and public services

Other charities

General hospice information

"Childrens Hospices UK is the national voice for children's hospice services and the children and families they care for. We strive to ensure that the estimated 20,000 life-limited children in the UK, and their families, have access to the unique range of services children's hospices provide."

"ACT is the first and only organisation in the UK concerned with the needs of all children with life-shortening conditions and their families, regardless of the particular diseases involved. Helen House, along with other hospices for children, is a member of ACT. ACT, in consultation with the membership, publicly launched the Charter for Children with Life-Threatening Conditions and Their Families in June 1993."

"Hospice Information is a joint venture between St. Christopher's Hospice and Help the Hospices. It brings together the experience and established reputation for high quality of the Hospice Information Service at St. Christopher's and the national remit and innovative information developments of Help the Hospices. Together, we want to provide a world-class information service for health professionals and members of the public, on UK and international hospice and palliative care."

"Help the Hospices is the national charity for the hospice movement, founded in 1984 by Anne, Duchess of Norfolk."

This web-based resource provides information on the lifelites project, which aims to improve the quality of life for children with life-limiting illnesses, through the use of information technology.

Other children's hospices

West Midlands

Doncaster

Stockton-on-Tees

Rachel House, Kinross Robin House, Balloch

South East England

Worthing, Sussex

South West England

Merseyside

South East England

Preston, Lancashire

Quidenham (Norfolk), Milton (Cambs) and Ipswich (Suffolk)

Carlisle

Kent

West Yorkshire

Manchester

Woodford Green, Essex

Oxford

Hope House in Oswestry and Ty Gobaith in Conwy.

Hertfordshire

Dorset

Luton

South End, Essex

Wetherby, Leeds

Nr Winchester, Hampshire

Horizon House is in Newtownabbey.

Loughborough

Lincolnshire, Hull and East Riding

Newcastle

Staffordshire and South Cheshire

Hampton, Middlesex

Cardiff

Charities and support groups for particular conditions

KidsHealth provides families with accurate, up-to-date, and jargon-free health information they can use.

Clic Sargent supports families with children suffering from cancer or leukaemia.

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign is the only UK charity focusing on all muscular dystrophies and allied disorders. It has pioneered the search for treatments and cures for over 40 years and provides practical, medical and emotional support to people affected by the condition.

The Mission of the Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (JTSMA) is to be there for everyone affected by or involved with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), providing support and information, and investing in research. The JTSMA is the only British organisation dedicated to providing support, care, information and the funding of research into SMA.

The Batten Disease Family Association (BDFA) was created in 1998 to support and help families, carers and professionals, who have contact with a child with Batten disease.

For help and support with conditions relating to the heart.

The Contact a Family Directory Online has lots of information on specific conditions and rare disorders in children and young people.

Health and public services

This website from the Department of Health provides details about services or benefits affecting carers.

The Council for Disabled Children (CDC) is the umbrella body for the disabled children’s sector in England, with links to the other UK nations.

This government site brings together information on public services, and includes sections health services, caring for a child or adult and disability.

RADAR is an organisation campaigning for better lifestyles for disabled people and their families.

NHS Direct has a wealth of information about illnesses and conditions and also links to other organisations.

Other charities

Contact a Family is the only UK-wide charity providing advice, information and support to the parents of all disabled children - no matter what their health condition. They also enable parents to get in contact with other families, both on a local and national basis.

Whizz-Kidz provides specialised mobility transport for children, as well as training, information and advice to change the lives of disabled children.

This organisation works to help bereaved families.

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