THE CONNECTION between a children’s hospice and the borough was highlighted last week, thanks to a visit from Wokingham town’s mayor.
Cllr Lynn Forbes said that she was amazed by the work of the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice in Maidenhead after she met with the team on Monday, February 3.
She was taken on a tour of the site, met patients and chatted with staff at the purpose-built centre. It helps children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, and their families.
The charity’s work relies heavily on donations such as those collected by members of Wokingham Gossip Girls.
These enable a range of services to be offered including a hydrotherapy splash pool and a play area.
Cllr Forbes said: “I was blown away by the building and what they have managed to do in the short time they have been open.”
And the charity, which is the main charity of this year’s Wokingham Walk on Sunday, May 3, was equally delighted at the attention.
Community Fundraiser Julia Philipson said: “Lynn’s visit was really important to us. Wokingham has been very good to us as a town for many years, with such a good number of donations.
“We support a good number of people from Wokingham. Lynn has been really good at raising awareness of our work – so many people don’t know who we are, so it’s good to invite the mayor, and she can pass the message down to the people of Wokingham to tell families and the community what we do and the services we provide.
“We can’t do it without help.
“We’re really, really grateful to Lynn for giving us space and to be able to show her about the services we provide.”
But, Ms Philipson added: “In order to provide and grow our services, we need donations.
“We’re really, really grateful to be chosen as the charity for the Wokingham Walk. The more people who take part, the more donations we’ll receive.
“We’d love to do more visits into schools, we’d love to see children support our children.”
For more details, or to support the hospice, log on to www.alexanderdevine.org
How Alexander Devine helps children
Last year, the centre was able to offer
- 100 splash sessions since our pool opened in May
- 536 play visits for children and their siblings
- 2,624 hours of care for children and families in the community
- 223 day care visits
- 14 sibling and family activity days.
