In January 2012 Catherine announced her patronage of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices</a> </strong>and right away this organization began to tug at the heart strings of royal watchers everywhere.
It was March of 2012 when Catherine made her first public visit to “The Treehouse” EACH’s bespoke facility in Ipswich, Suffolk. Everyone there was so excited and royal watchers everywhere were both excited and more than a bit nervous. Catherine was scheduled to give her first ever public speech as a member of the royal family. My heart truly went out to her, I know how terrifying public speaking can be and to have to give a speech with not just a small audience of invited guests but the world’s media watching?…I’d have been hiding in the nearest broom closet, under a bed…somewhere, anywhere…hide me. She handled it well though she made it clear she wished William had been able to be there (he was still away in the Falkland Islands).
Catherine joined in an art therapy session right away, later she joined a music therapy session where she chatted and played along
Her work with EACH made A Petite Princess get involved in a big way and we are never happier than when we are asked to assist. Currently, their big fundraising focus is The Nook Appeal.
The Nook Appeal is EACH’s vision to transform children’s palliative care in Norfolk and deliver even better children’s hospice care services. This plans for the £10 Million project include a new purpose-built hospice in the heart of the county, called the nook.
The new site will replace the current hospice in Quidenham, a building not designed or equipped in the way the other two hospices are. Given its age and design can’t be successfully redeveloped. Accessibility is really limited, as is flexibility, and there just isn’t the scope to expand. It’s on two floors with narrow doorways and corridors and just a single small lift to allow wheelchair access upstairs.
EACH currently provides specialist care and support for 328 children and young people with an additional 405 family members receiving face-to-face therapeutic support. With high demand in Norfolk they are caring for 119 children and young people and 205 family members. The nook will allow them to do this while offering greater choice in a much improved, significantly larger, and more appropriate environment. This will positively impact on care delivered both in the hospice and in the community throughout Norfolk.
The new location will also be closer to the center of the county with easier access to hospitals, services, and major roadways that will make it so much easier for the families who need EACH to make the most of their services.
So what is A Petite Princess doing to help withThe Nook Appeal? Well, through our sister site Stitched By Trisha we are offering a hand-stitched butterfly design that features a heart in the wing and 25% of the cost is being donated to EACH for the Nook Appeal.
This Butterfly with a Heart in its wing will be hand-stitched by me and come to you ready for framing. The cost of each butterfly is $30 which means that $7.50 of each one purchased will be donated to EACH.. You can read more about my decision to create these, you can read this post