Families of Derry children suffering from cancer are set to benefit with the opening of new accommodation provided by CLIC Sargent.
CLIC, the leading cancer charity for children and young people, has set up new Home from Home to provide free accommodation for families whose children are undergoing cancer treatment at Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children – the first of its kind in the North.
Located within a “slipper walk” from the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, the home will be used by families whose children are undergoing a cancer treatment at the hospital.
Currently families in Northern Ireland dealing with childhood cancer can face an average round trip of 95 miles, several times per week in order to receive cancer treatment and spend an additional £360 per month.
Costs can include travel, fuel, meals and accommodation.
The CLIC Sargent Children’s Homes from Home will go someway in helping to tackle these costs.
Designed with the families in mind, the home comprises four large en suite family bedrooms, communal living and kitchen spaces, a quiet room and play space.
The children’s Home from Home will be offered to families free of charge and gives them the ability to maintain a sense of a normal family life by keeping the whole family together.
The new home will officially open its doors to families in January 2014.
In total CLIC Sargent has invested more than £1.5m to establish its first Home from Home in Belfast. The funds will help to support children with cancer and their families at the home for three years. This would not have been possible without the generosity of the people of Northern Ireland.
Each week two children and young people in Northern Ireland are told they have cancer, and diagnosis usually comes as a shock.
Treatment normally starts straightaway and can last up to three years. Although survival rates are over 80%, cancer remains the single largest cause of death from disease in children here.
Tags:
