JANE'S Appeal has raised more than £1.8 million for children's and cancer charities.
Its key causes are:
Martin House, in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, which provides care and support for families with children who have terminal and life limiting illnesses.
Opened in 1987, it helps 300 children and their families and a further 100 bereaved families.
It is available for respite care as well as emergency and terminal care and support offered in the family home. Facilities for young children and a special unit for teenagers include computer, art and music rooms as well as extensive gardens and a multi-sensory rooms.
There is also room for families who wish to stay with their children and special events for siblings. Money raised through Jane's Appeal will go towards the £3.6m annual running costs of Martin House, only £200,000 of which comes from statutory funding. Link:
www.martinhouse.org.ukBluebell Wood Children's Hospice Bluebell Wood is a charity raising funds to build a dedicated children's hospice for families in the South Yorkshire and North Midlands area. Hundreds of families with children with terminal and life-limiting conditions will benefit from the home that will offer palliative care and high-tech facilities that include eight specialist care rooms, sensory and soft play areas, and state of the art cleaning systems that sees dust sucked out through the walls to help asthmatics and those will breathing problems. There is also a Community Care Team who are already providing support for families in their own home. Building work is underway on the Dinnington site and the hospice is due to open later this year. Link:
www.bluebellwood.orgMacmillan Cancer SupportMacmillan Cancer Support, which is part of the charity Macmillan Cancer Relief, helps families and individuals affected by cancer by offering practical, medical, emotional and financial support.
A dedicated helpline means patients, their friends or relatives can speak to someone who knows what it is like to cope with the disease. There are also a series of information centres around the UK as well as support groups. Macmillan staff can help guide people through
the benefits system to allow them claim any money available to them, and the charity also makes grant payments to help people on low incomes cover the costs of travel, heating, or other expenses. Link:
www.macmillan.org.uk/Get_Support/Home.aspxSparksSparks, Sport Aiding Medical Research for Kids, is a charity dedicated to funding research into childhood diseases. It was first established to raise money for the National Fund for Poliomyelitis Research in 1960 when Duncan Guthrie enlisted the support of some of the leading sports personalities of the day, including cricket legend Jim Laker.
It became a charity in its own right in 1991 and is still supported by the UK's top sportsmen and women as well as ordinary fundraisers around Britain. To date, it has committed well over £11million to medical research projects across a wide range of conditions affecting babies and young children, including childhood cancers, meningitis, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, infant brain damage, club foot and premature birth. Link:
www.sparks.org.ukYorkshire Cancer CentreUnder construction at the St James's University Hospital site in Leeds, the Yorkshire Cancer Centre will be a world-class new facility. It will be the largest cancer centre in the UK, if not in Europe.
The centre will offer the expertise for cutting edge research as well the highest level of treatment, including a Young Adult cancer unit supported by the Teenage Cancer Trust. A total of £10m is needed for the Yorkshire Cancer Centre Appeal to help provide crucial facilities and medical equipment. Link:
www.yorkshirecancercentre.org.uk The full article contains 620 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
