Demelza Hospice Care for Children

Demelza Hospice Care for Children is a Children's hospice and a registered charity (no. 1039561) based in Kent, England, providing palliative, respite, end-of-life and bereavement care to life-limited children and young adults, and their families.[1] The organisation carries the name of Demelza Phillips, who died from a brain tumour at the age of 24. Demelza had worked at Acorns Children’s Hospice in Birmingham and her parents, impressed by the work they had seen there, wanted to establish a children’s hospice in the South-East of England. Demelza House opened in 1998.[2]

Demelza Hospice Care for Children
Demelza House Children's Hospice
Geography
LocationKent, England
Organisation
FundingNon-profit hospital
TypeCommunity
PatronCountess Mountbatten of Burma
Services
Emergency departmentNo
Beds10
History
Opened1998
Links
ListsHospitals in England

Services

There are three main areas of service.

The original Demelza House, now known as Demelza Kent is a 10 Bed hospice near Sittingbourne. Following a merger with the James House charity in 2004,[3] a 'hospice at home' service was launched covering East Sussex. These were joined by a 6-bed facility, Demelza South East London, in Eltham in 2009 which also has a range of drop-in services.[4]

Families of deceased children also receive support up to 3 years after the child's death.[5]

Supporters

The organisation has a number of supporters who are termed as 'Vice Presidents'.

These include:Justin Welby the current Archbishop of Canterbury, actors Daniel Radcliffe and Sally Lindsay, Olympic Gold Medallists Robin Cousins and Jayne Torvill, TV Presenter and Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman as well as Sir Martyn Lewis and former England footballer and Match of the Day frontman Gary Lineker.[6][7]

In 2008, artist Damien Hirst created a work specifically to raise funds for Demelza.[8] This was sold on 30 September 2008 at Sotheby's Auction House for £769,250 (including buyer's premium).[9]

The Patron is Countess Mountbatten of Burma.[10]

References
  1. "Charity overview".
  2. "FEATURE: Life-affirming work at an Eltham hospice ahead of 5th birthday". News Shopper.
  3. "Removed charity".
  4. "FEATURE: Life-affirming work at an Eltham hospice ahead of 5th birthday". News Shopper.
  5. "Christmas at a children's hospice: Adding life to days when days cannot be added to life". 19 December 2014.
  6. "Copy of annual accounts lodged with the Charity Commission listing VPs Retrieved 24/08/2016" (PDF).
  7. "Detail". www.demelza.org.uk.
  8. Ltd, Science. "Beautiful Love Demelza Painting with Beautiful Butterflies - Damien Hirst". www.damienhirst.com.
  9. to calendar (15 September 2008). "hirst damien beautiful lov | contemporary art | sotheby's l08027lot3ptyjen". Sothebys.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  10. "Copy of annual accounts lodged with the Charity Commission Retrieved 24/08/2016" (PDF).
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