President's Charity 2023

Zoe's Place Baby Hospice is a very special place. We provide respite, palliative and end of life care to babies and children 0-5yrs of age and much needed support to their families.

Hearing the news that your child has a severe medical condition and may die young is devastating. It’s an incredibly difficult, frightening and confusing time. These children have very complex and unpredictable conditions and often need round the clock care 7 days a week.

Life changes for the whole family and can become challenging. We are here to “hold the hands” of parents and families and to support them through their journey. We are here to not only provide excellence in one to one nursing care but to provide a holistic service for the families.

When we say that Zoe's Place is a “home from home” we really mean it. Our beautiful light, colourful, laughter filled hospice is a place where children are encouraged to thrive, enjoy books and stories, music, toys and a wide range of fun activities. We have outdoor and indoor play space, a light sensory room and soft play area and a lovely hydrotherapy bath.

Carefully planned therapy sessions, visits from “the animal man” - very popular with the children - with his range of pets and day trips to petting zoos and play parks provide the right mix of stimulation, relaxation and medical care so that parents know that their child is not only being cared for but provided with experiences where they can flourish.

Most of the support we offer is this “respite care”, offering parents some “down time” – time to relax, spend extra time with their other children, have a night out as a couple, or just get a full night's sleep. As one parent said to me “Zoe's is the lifeline which helps us to “re-charge our batteries so that we can be better parents for our child”.

In addition to this we hold regular “Family Days” where parents can come together, chat and share ideas and experiences and provide some mutual support for one another. Siblings meet other children like themselves who have a poorly brother or sister and everyone can have some fun together.

People sometimes ask me “isn’t it sad being involved with a children’s hospice? And yes there are sad times, but they are outweighed with such happy times. You only have to see the smiles on the children’s faces when they come through the door to know that children love coming to Zoe's.

We know that the conditions our children have are life threatening and this is, of course, the saddest part of our work but we feel privileged to support families through this most difficult of times and pride ourselves in the end of life care we offer. We ensure the child has a dignified and peaceful, natural death with their family around them. Our “Starlight Suite” allows families to stay close to their child and other family members are able to visit to say their goodbyes.

It costs £1.2 million every year to run our hospice and with only 10% of our funding coming from statutory support we very much rely on the community, local businesses and organisations like Warwickshire Women's Bowling Association to help us stay open and are so grateful to everyone across Coventry, Warwickshire and surrounding areas who has taken us to their hearts.

Your President Donna, has kindly chosen Zoe's Place Baby Hospice - Coventry as her “Charity of the Year” and we are so very grateful to Donna for choosing us.