CHAMBER CHARITY OF THE YEAR Anna’s Hope For children and young people with brain tumours
Anna’s Hope – 15 years of making a different for children with a brain tumour the region each year and is the leading example for the rest of the UK.
2021 is the 15th year that Anna’s Hope has been helping make a difference to the lives of children with a brain tumour.
As most will know Every Penny raised for Anna’s Hope goes to supporting children with a Brain Tumour and we are delighted to have invested over £1.5million so far in the Brainbow Service. We are also delighted to commit to a further two years funding
ensuring more children will receive this pioneering support. Carole Hughes If you want to help us continue to make a difference to the lives of children with a brain tumour please contact Carole Hughes by e-mail admin@annashope.co.uk or telephone 01780 740492.
Looking back we have achieved so much, like the first Specialist Neuro-rehabilitation Service in the UK for children diagnosed with a brain tumour called the Brainbow Service. It all started shortly after Anna passed away when Rob and I met with Addenbrookes Clinicians and a representative from Tadworth Children’s Trust. As a result of this meeting the vision of creating a service to help Children with a Brain Tumour reach their full potential was developed. It would be pioneering and the first in the UK providing multidisciplinary support from diagnosis, during and after treatment. In 2013 the vision became reality with the launch of the Brainbow Service at Addenbrookes Hospital. It is now helping over 200 children and their families in
EACH to move out of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk offices East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) will not renew the leases on its head office in Milton or regional office in Ipswich, as part of a cost-saving programme responding to a forecasted operational deficit of £2 million over the next 12 months. There are normally some 40 staff based in Milton’s High Street and at Ipswich’s Ransomes Europark. They will now continue a mix of working from home and within hospice buildings as EACH drives down costs, ensuring delivery of its frontline service during a time when retail income and fundraising activities remain significantly affected. Phil Gormley, EACH Chief Executive, said: “Our three hospices remain open and continue to provide care as we focus every penny on care delivery. However, staff in our offices have proved they can work remotely and will blend home 22 connected
working with using office space in our hospice buildings. “Not renewing the leases was a fairly straightforward decision given the times we find ourselves in. This third lockdown, closing our shops, has meant putting over 120 members of staff back on furlough and standing down our 1,700 volunteers. While our fundraisers worked hard over the festive period, our latest forecasting shows an operational deficit of £2 million over the next 12 months. Once again, this illustrates why we need our service delivery underpinned by proper statutory funding.” Last year, EACH only received 16 per cent of its income from statutory sources. Aside from that it relies on over £6 million coming in from trusts, major donors, businesses, community groups, individuals and events, as well as £5 million in income from its retail operation. Fundraising activities have been vastly
reduced as a result of restrictions, such as EACH’s Christmas tree collections that were cancelled. Meanwhile, every time shops have to shut the charity loses around £100,000 income a week. Trying to manage retail activity back to sustainable levels of income in between lockdowns has brought some success, but trading is still not at the levels it needs and has budgeted for.
