We are delighted to announce that Candlelighters has granted £15,000 to The Sick Children’s Trust for essential running costs of Eckersley House, a home from home accommodation opposite the Clarendon Wing.

As one of only 21 Principal Treatment Centres for children’s cancer in the UK and only two in Yorkshire, we know that many children and families will travel quite some distance to receive treatment at Leeds Children’s Hospital. This means that as well as the exhausting impacts of treatment, children and families are faced with the prospect of lengthy travel arrangements, being separated from friends and family, and missing much-needed home comforts. In 2018, we opened our home away from home accommodation, The Cottage, to ensure that families from further afield had somewhere to stay, close to the hospital. The Cottage can house up to four families at any one time, but sadly, sometimes there can be more families in need of accommodation than The Cottage can house.

We are determined that all of our families always have somewhere to stay should they need it, which is why we also provide funding to Eckersley House accommodation, and this latest grant will continue to ensure accommodation is always available.

Eckersley House Manager, Jane McHale, said: “The £15,000 grant from Candlelighters means so much to The Sick Children’s Trust and Eckersley House. It has come at what has been a challenging time due to cancelled fundraising events and the uncertainty that COVID-19 has brought with it. Candlelighters’ support means that we can give families with a seriously ill child in Leeds Children’s Hospital one less thing to worry about.

Families tell us that by having a place to stay near their child it helps them cope with the everyday stresses and challenges that come with having a child in hospital. Our ‘Home from Home’ is a space where they can gather their thoughts and look after themselves during what is an extremely emotional and often uncertain time.

On behalf of everyone at The Sick Children’s Trust and all the families we support with children in Leeds Children’s Hospital, we’d like to say a huge thank you to Candlelighters for this generous donation and for their continued support.”

At the Young Dreamers Takeover Day, the engagement team enlisted the help of Isla to present Jane at Eckersley House with this vital funding!