Rob Delany, celebrity ambassador for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, is supporting Together for Short Lives’ campaign to protect the Children’s Hospice Grant. The £25 million grant is a crucial contribution to the cost of providing life-line hospice care to children and families, but there are currently no plans to extend it beyond March 2024.
The actor has first-hand experience of the crucial care and support hospices provide for children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. His son Henry, who died of a brain tumour in 2018, received a wide range of care and support from Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice – including vital respite and music therapy. The support extended to the entire family, with Henry’s brothers attending activities for siblings.
Rob said:
“Children’s hospices provide solace to families like mine. I don’t want any other families to go through what we went through, but I know that is not possible – there will always be children who live short lives. But, by supporting our children’s hospices through sustainable funding, we can make sure that dying children and their families get the same joy that we and Henry got from Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.”
Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, based in Barnet, provides essential care to over 350 children and families a year across north and central London. Currently only 7% of their income comes from government sources, meaning they rely on the generosity of the community to be there for those who need them the most.
In his book, A Heart That Works, Rob shared his experiences with the north London hospice. He said:
“His music therapist, Kirsty, did the equivalent of aiming a firehose of pure joy at Henry, Leah and me. I still watch videos of them making music together on a guitar or a drum full of beans and thrill with love.
The happiness I associate with that children’s hospice is boundless, and I will be grateful until I die and beyond.”
