Urgent plea for donations on behalf of dying youngsters

Charity’s campaign for extra help after a summer of axed fundraisers threatens services

Supporters of Children’s Hospices Across Scotland – better known as CHAS – are being asked to help dying children and their families enjoy precious moments together before it is too late.

The charity, which runs Rachel House at Kinross, has launched an urgent campaign for donations as it emerges from lockdown and a summer of cancelled fundraising events.

It has been running a virtual hospice over the last three months, helping families by phone and video with services such as clinical guidance, financial advice and bereavement support.

The charity’s dedicated family support teams have also offered a range of interactive activities, art clubs, storytelling and friendship calls to children and parents.

Jayden Easdale, 4, is among the youngsters who have benefited. He suffers from Tay-Sachs disease, a rare, incurable disorder, and is shielding at his home in Fraserburgh, where he lives with his brother Connor, 7, sister Kaitlin, 20, and parents Lynn and Brian.

Lynn, said: “The doctors said Jayden might only live until he was four but he’s a wee fighter and this March he marked his fourth birthday. We hope and pray he will make his fifth birthday too but we also have to face the fact that he might not. The virtual hospice service has been nothing short of amazing and a real lifeline for us all while we have been shielding.”

CHAS supports more than 450 families across Scotland but has had to dramatically transform the way it operates during the pandemic, while also facing the loss of funds from several cancelled events.

Donations can be made at chas.org.uk

Jayden Easdale, 4, is one child supported by CHAS.