Campaign to upgrade Black Country hospice gets huge boost from £280,000 donation
A £280,000 donation has helped a Black Country hospice take a major step forward in its campaign to upgrade facilities.
Acorns Children’s Hospice launched its Room to Grow Appeal earlier this year in the hope of raising £750,000 to make improvements at the Walstead Road centre in Walsall.
It will be the first time major refurbishments have taken place at the hospice since it opened more than 20 years ago.
And charity bosses announced today that it has received a significant £280,000 donation from a benevolent fund made up of former Goodyear Wolverhampton workers.
The money, from the 5/344 branch of the Transport and General Workers Union Benevolent Fund Charity, will be used to completely transform the hospice’s arts and crafts room, named Isabella’s Place in memory of Walsall girl Isabella Lyttle, and brings the appeal total to £400,000 – over half of the amount needed.
Chairman of the Benevolent Fund, Cyril Barrett, spoke of the pride of the trustees and management committee of the charity at being able to create a lasting legacy in the community, as the group brings its charitable activities to a close, seven years since its inception in 2015.
“This hospice has a very special place in our hearts, and we know first hand how important it is to the local community having previously donated £21,000 to the hospice multi-sensory room," he said.
“It feels only right that as we draw the Benevolent Fund to a close, that one of our final acts of kindness will go towards something that provides vital care to so many children and their families, right across the Black Country.
“Like many people, we were touched by the plight of the hospice in 2019 and inspired by families just like Isabella’s. We’re immensely proud that we are in a position do something that will ensure many more families will benefit from Acorns, long into the future.
“We are also pleased to be supporting a new family care suite where families can spend precious time together with their child thanks to this gift.”
Isabella Lyttle’s parents Mark Lyttle and Jen Dalton were at the heart of the community effort to help raise vital funds for the children’s hospice in Walsall, when financial uncertainty placed the much-loved facility under threat in 2019.
The support of communities across the region was integral to the rescue.
The Room to Grow Appeal aims to raise funds towards a number of significant upgrades at the hospice, including the 10 children’s bedrooms where children stay for short breaks, emergency or end-of-life care, and a new purpose-built arts and crafts room.
The work will see the centre become the first Acorns hospice to have piped oxygen.
Toby Porter, Acorns chief executive, said: “We are simply overjoyed at how the community has mobilised to push this appeal over the halfway mark and the donation from the Transport and General Workers Union is just incredible."
The 5/344 branch of the Transport and General Workers Union Benevolent Fund Charity was established following the closure of the Wolverhampton Goodyear Tyre factory in 2015, from what was the workers’ sick pay fund.
The scheme has supported more than 140 good causes across Wolverhampton and the Black Country.
For more on the appeal visit acorns.org.uk/roomtogrowappeal.
