Together we can make Christmas happen for sick children this year

THIS year, more than ever, we are grateful for the times we can be together with loved ones. Around this time of year, when the nights draw in and the air becomes crisp many of us start to look forward to Christmas and spending it with our family.

No one knows what Christmas will look like this year. It could look very different for every family across the country, but I know that for many families who have a seriously ill child in hospital that they might not be at home for Christmas.

Every year at The Sick Children’s Trust we do our best to make sure that families with children in hospital can be together, especially at Christmastime. This year is different. This year it’s harder, but they can still be together. You can keep a family together by donating £30.

What is Christmas for you? Perhaps it’s watching the children carefully pen their letter to Santa before putting out a carrot or two for Rudolph, or Christmas morning when you gather on the bed to open stockings together as a family. Christmas looks different for families with a seriously ill child in hospital, but your donation can still make sure they have the most important thing, each other.

You will give them a ‘Home from Home’ where they can rest nearby,

safe in the knowledge they will see their child on Christmas morning and will create magical memories rather than spend an agonising day away from their little one.

Christmas is better together, and while we don’t know how many people we might be able to spend that special day with, I know that unless we are there giving families with a seriously ill child in hospital a place to stay, there is a real possibility that they won’t be together this Christmas.

Tuesday, December 1, is Giving Tuesday – a day you can make a difference. With your help, we can keep families together by their child’s hospital bedside.

Together this Christmas is where we want families to be. Together, we can make that happen.

Donate £30 today by visiting sickchildrenstrust.org

Jane Featherstone, The Sick Children’s Trust