The Hive Youth Zone and Claire House Children’s Hospice have joined forces to give the siblings of children supported by the hospice a monthly opportunity to come together, forget about their worries, and have some fun at The Hive.
Claire House Children’s Hospice helps seriously and terminally ill children live life to the full by creating wonderful experiences and bringing back a sense of normality to family life.
By providing specialist nursing care and emotional support the hospice help families smile again when life couldn’t get any tougher.
Claire House help to care for the whole family, including siblings. The hospice gives time and attention to brothers and sisters through counselling, planned activities, trips and residential breaks throughout the year.This allows them time to have fun, reflect through creative activities and importantly build relationships with other children who also have lost or have a seriously ill brother or sister.
Natasha Williamson, Counsellor at Claire House, said: “We’re really excited for the start of this partnership with The Hive. At Claire House Children’s Hospice, we know how important it is to support the entire family; we ensure that parents, grandparents and children with life-limiting illnesses and those families who are sadly bereaved get the support that they need to promote positive mental health. The Bee Happy parties at The Hive’s incredible site will allow siblings of Claire House children to leave behind their worries for a few hours, have fun and meet other children who are going through something similar to themselves.”
Located in the heart of Wirral, The Hive Youth Zone supports over 3,500 young people aged 8 – 19, and up to age 25 for those with a disability. Raising aspirations and changing lives by giving members ‘Somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to’. As a registered charity open 365 days a year, the youth zone relies on vital fundraising efforts to support the ongoing work it does for the young people of the North West.
The dedicated ‘Bee Happy’ party themed events will offer the Claire House siblings exclusive access to all the incredible facilities that The Hive has to offer. These include an indoor climbing wall, a rooftop football pitch, a fully equipped music room and hair salon. The siblings will all receive a Hive membership as part of their welcome pack, with the hope they will continue to access the Youth Zone in their own time.
Chief Executive of The Hive Youth Zone Adam Mellor said: “The Hive Youth Zone aims to create an inclusive and supportive environment for young people from across Wirral. We’re always looking for innovative ways to provide services that will really make a difference to the lives of young people. Working in partnership with Claire House and their sibling groups is an incredible way to help support the inspiring work that they do.”
“Our team has worked tirelessly to create the most incredible party imaginable for the siblings. Activities will include a huge disco, magic, face-painting, karaoke, climbing and giant inflatables alongside activities already available in The Hive. Our aim is for them to come along, build up a social network of new friends, forget their worries and simply be happy!”
The charities are calling on individuals and organisations to take part in fundraising activities to raise vital funds to support the monthly party events. From ‘Wear what makes you happy’ days where people in organisations are encouraged to wear whatever makes them happy to work. This could be a football shirt, pyjamas or even fancy dress! For those with a sweet tooth, a ‘Bake their Day’ bake sale could be a chance for friends, families and colleagues to get together over some tasty treats and raise funds. Alternatively, businesses could hold a Friday afternoon ‘Happy Hour’ where employees could leave an hour early and donate their hourly pay to the campaign.
Adam added: “For us to continue to make events such as these a reality, we’re calling on individuals, schools, businesses and community groups to come together, have some fun and gather the donations we really need to fund our huge variety of upcoming activities. We have some exciting ways for the community to be involved to help raise vital funds and we hope that the whole community will come together to support these amazing events for Claire House siblings.’’
For more information about The Hive Youth Zone visit www.thehiveyouthzone.org
To receive your ‘Bee Happy’ Fundraising Pack, please contact heather.anderson@thehiveyouthzone.org
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