Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales has issued a heartfelt message in support of Children’s Hospice Week – praising the ‘remarkable’ role hospices play in helping children and families make every moment count.
The Princess highlights how children’s hospices create ‘joyful and nurturing environments’ where children can play, learn and simply be children, while offering families expert care and support throughout their journey.
Her Royal Highness is Royal Patron of two children’s hospices – East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) and Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice in South Wales – and has invited members of the public to join her in celebrating their life-changing work.
Led across the UK by Together for Short Lives, the charity for children’s palliative care, Children’s Hospice Week is the only week of the year dedicated to raising awareness of children’s hospice services. It runs until Sunday, 21st June.
The Princess wrote: “Every childhood deserves to be rich in joy, love, and shared memories. As Patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice, I have been privileged to see first hand how children’s hospices make this possible for babies, children and young people living with serious illness.
“Children’s hospices are joyful and nurturing environments where children can simply be children; to play, explore, express themselves and connect with others.
“For families, hospices offer a compassionate and restorative space to breathe, be together, and find strength in a community that understands their journey. This expert, holistic care is delivered by dedicated professionals who walk alongside families at every stage, often over many years, throughout a young person’s life and, when needed, into death and bereavement.
“Children’s hospices are places that protect connection; between children and their families, between families and their communities, between hospice staff and the people they support, and within each child’s own sense of self.
“When we shine a light on the remarkable, yet often unseen, work the hospices do to help children and their families live as fully as possible, we can break down one of the greatest barriers families often face: the fear that reaching out means giving up hope, or that care only begins at the very end.
“Even in the most challenging circumstances, when children are surrounded by attuned care, opportunities for expression, and environments that nurture their whole selves, they can experience joy, belonging and the freedom to be who they are.
“These extraordinary places remind us that even in the face of serious illness, childhood remains a time of creativity, connection and possibility.
“This Children’s Hospice Week, I hope you will join me in celebrating the countless ways children’s hospices make every moment count for the children and families they support, and in recognising the profound, life-changing impact of the culture of care they are working to create.”
The Princess became EACH’s Royal Patron in January 2012 and Royal Patron of Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice in January 2025.
Irfon Rees, Chief Executive of Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice said: “We are deeply grateful for the ongoing support of our Patron, HRH The Princess of Wales, for Tŷ Hafan and indeed the whole children’s hospice movement.
“In this message Her Royal Highness has shared during Children’s Hospice Week, the Princess talks of the joyful, vibrant and nurturing environments of children’s hospices and also of how they provide dependable, compassionate and restorative spaces for families facing immense challenges. By doing so Her Royal Highness is drawing the attention to the profound difference that children’s hospices, including Tŷ Hafan, make to the lives of so many families and reminds us all of the importance of supporting your local children’s hospice so that no family has to live their child’s short life alone.”
Kevin Clements, Chief Executive of EACH, said: “We are deeply appreciative of The Princess for the unwavering commitment she has shown as our Royal Patron.
“Her continued encouragement and international profile have helped bring greater awareness to our charity and the families we support, and this latest message is a fitting way to highlight the importance of Children’s Hospice Week.
“It shines a powerful light on the vital role children’s hospices play, while also reminding people of the crucial support they provide through donations and fundraising.”
Nick Carroll, CEO of Together for Short Lives, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales for her continued support of Children’s Hospice Week and the work of children’s hospices across the UK.
“Children’s Hospice Week is the one week of the year given over to children’s hospices and the families who rely on them. Across the UK, children’s hospices help families live as fully as possible together, with expert care and support at every stage.
“As The Princess reflects, that support is there from the moment a family needs it, as they navigate their child’s life, death, bereavement and beyond. Helping more people understand this means more families feel able to reach out for care.
“This care matters more than ever. Together with children’s hospices across the UK, we thank The Princess for helping families to make every moment count.”
