Eckersley House receives £35,000 boost to help support families of sick children

A £35,000 grant has been awarded to Eckersley House, a free ‘Home from Home’ which provides emotional and practical support for families with sick children being treated in hospital in Leeds. The grant, which has been awarded by Children’s Heart Surgery Fund (CHSF), will contribute to the running costs enabling families to stay free of charge.

Eckersley House, which is provided by The Sick Children’s Trust, helps approximately 530 families each year, 100 of which are children who undergo open heart surgery.

Sharon Coyle CEO of CHSF said: “We're thrilled to be able to provide funds to Eckersley House for another year. The accommodation they provide is second to none, and our heart families continue to receive such wonderful support from this local haven in their times of need."

CHSF, who support the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit, initially helped with cost the build, and have contributed £445,000 to Eckersley House over the past 6 years.

Pictured left to right are CHSF Chair of Trustees Andy Chilton, Eckersley House manager Jane McHale, Sharon Coyle CEO of CHSF and Adult Cardiologist and Trustee James Oliver.

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Notes to editors

• Children’s Heart Surgery Fund is the award-winning charity based in Leeds and supporting the Leeds Congenital Hearts service – which serves the whole of Yorkshire, the Humber and North Lincolnshire. Our vision is for children to live life, beating heart disease, and our mission is to make the Leeds Congenital Hearts unit a world class centre of excellence by providing the funding and resources needed to care for a child's heart, mind, family and future.
  See www.chsf.org.uk for more information.
  
  
• The Sick Children’s Trust provides free, high-quality accommodation, as well as emotional and practical support, to families with sick children in hospital in the UK. Their vision is to work to a future where every family with a seriously ill child in hospital will be able to stay together, just minutes from their child’s bed during their treatment. They believe keeping families together significantly improves the recovery of seriously ill children.
  See http://www.sickchildrenstrust.org/ for more information.
  
  
• Eckersley House is open 365 days a year and can accommodate 23 families a night. The average time a family stay is 21 nights. Rooms are allocated to families on a priority basis and are offered completely free of charge. It is funded solely by voluntary donations from individuals, companies and charitable trusts.
  See http://www.sickchildrenstrust.org/our_houses/Eckersley_House/index.html for more information.
  

For more information please contact: Andy McNally, Marketing and Communications Manager, 0113 3922948, andy.mcnally@chsf.org.uk.