Walsall children's hospice seeks to raise £5 million over the next three years

A hospice which cares for children across the West Midlands is seeking to raise £5 million as demand reaches record levels.

Acorns Children’s Hospice, which runs a hospice centre in Walstead Road, Walsall, has launched a £5 million fundraising drive to help more families access expert care, bringing support closer to home.

The three-year campaign, called Acorns Time Machine, aims to fund the specialist care and support that helps children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, and their families, make the most of the time they have together.

Chief executive Trevor Johnson said families caring for children with serious illnesses were also under extraordinary pressure.

“Too many are spending precious time as carers rather than parents, and as patients rather than children,” he said. “We want to change that.

“We can’t add more time to a child’s life, but we can help add more childhood to the time they have.”

There are an estimated 11,000 children with complex medical needs in the West Midlands.

Mr Johnson said advances in medicine mean more children are living longer with increasingly complex conditions, changing the way children's hospice care supports families.

Babies who once would not have survived pregnancy or birth also living for hours, days or weeks, creating moments families never expected to have.

Mr Johnson added: “At Acorns, we’re proud to care for more than 1,000 families every year. But so many more need us. Acorns Time Machine is about making that possible. It means taking our hospice care to more families, reducing long, emotionally and financially draining journeys.

“It means being there at the point of need, offering reassurance when things feel uncertain, guidance when symptoms change and joined-up support that helps prevent crisis and exhaustion.”

Mr Johnson said every donation made to the appeal would help families spend less time worrying about care and more time together.

“No parent should have to choose between care and cuddles. Acorns Time Machine will help fund the care they need so they don’t have to,” he said.

Mr Johnson said the charity needed to find approximately £40,000 every day to provide its children's hospice care, with more than 75 per cent that amount coming from donations, fundraising by businesses and the local community, and income from the charity’s retail shops.

Donations to the appeal can be made on the website acorns.org.uk/timemachine.