Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice is launching its autumn fundraising appeal ‘From That Moment’ at the start of September. The goal of the campaign is to raise £1 million to help cover the costs required to run Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice in the upcoming year. During the campaign individuals, schools, and businesses across North London will come together to support Noah’s Ark. Whether it’s hosting a bake sale, running a marathon or organizing a mufti day, there are countless ways to get involved to raise critical funds for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice – a local charity that makes a major difference to the lives of children who are seriously unwell across north and central London and Hertsmere. The first phase of the campaign runs from the start of September to 20th October when everything raised will be doubled, thanks to the generosity of our backers. We then have a final 36-hour push to get us to £1m! These much-needed funds will ensure we can continue to provide vital services to children and families in the community who currently rely on them or who may one day need them.
Last year the From that Moment campaign film won the prestigious Third Sector award in the Best Charity Film category, link to the 2022 film is HERE. The film was made The 10 Group pro bono for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.
On the 26th September we are also celebrating the 5th anniversary of the opening of The Ark. The Ark was opened by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and representatives from our corporate partner, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club including captains Hugo Lloris and Jenna Schillaci. Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice had humble beginnings in a small office in London Colney where the team offered Hospice-at-Home and community-based services, but the idea of building ‘The Ark’ had started to grow.
It was an ambitious idea – to build the first new London children’s hospice for ten years and the first and only children’s hospice in the area. We had to get it right, so we consulted with families on the specification of the building, giving them a voice in the design of the facility to ensure The Ark was going to, not just meet, but exceed their needs.
Building The Ark was going to take time, it was going to take nerve and most importantly it was going to take money. Luckily, we had the indefatigable Alison Goodman, the then Director of Income Generation & Communications (currently our Deputy CEO) at the helm. Alison and her team devised and implemented a range of innovative fundraising events and campaigns to raise the money to build this much needed facility and used her impressive celebrity contacts to pull in support from Ed Sheeran, Melvin Odoom, Richard Curtis, Gary Lineker, Gaby Roslin, Sharon Osbourne, Stephen Merchant and Caroline Quentin, amongst many others.
After a herculean four-year fundraising effort and supported by the amazing generosity of our major donors, celebrities and the community, construction started in 2017 with Samantha Cameron breaking ground on the ambitious £10 million project.
Alison Goodman, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice’s Deputy CEO said: ‘I was extremely proud to be a part of building The Ark. I’m constantly humbled by the generosity of everyone who helped us build this extraordinary place. Over the past five years we have made it possible for the children and families we support to make the most of every day and will continue to do so for many years to come.’
Set in a stunning 7.5-acre nature reserve just ten miles from central London and run by specialists in paediatric palliative care, The Ark was carefully designed to meet the needs of children at different stages of their lives and to be a haven of calm and safety. The 2,200m² facility was designed by architecture firm Squire & Partners and was shortlisted for the 2021 RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) London Architecture Awards. We were lucky enough to receive pro bono or at cost support from the construction industry including a fully fitted commercial kitchen donated and installed by McDonalds that services our beautiful ‘Rainbow Café’.
The Ark offers holistic therapy in fully hoisted sensory, soft-play, music, creative and hydrotherapy rooms and care after death in our two Butterfly Suites. We also have a multi faith room that offers space for contemplation and prayer whilst accommodating the family’s spiritual needs and respecting the way they approach the end of their child’s life. We have six children’s bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms on our Woodlands Wing and three family suites in our Meadows Wing. Our fully accessible playground allows all children to get involved with everything from a wheelchair seesaw to a trampoline and accessible swing. The nature reserve has The Children’s Sensory Trail, which is made from recycled rubber tyres and is fully wheelchair accessible, extends 1.2km around The Ark’s 7.5-acre nature reserve. The path passes around our Butterfly Meadow, Wildlife Ponds and Bluebell Wood, and includes various resting spots dotted around the trail. The Sensory Garden is situated immediately outside The Ark’s Atrium and Woodlands Wing. The garden is an interactive, therapeutic social space designed for everyone; for children and their families, as well as Noah’s Ark staff and volunteers. The garden includes plants and flowers with interesting textures, colours and aromas, as well as sensory instruments. It provides a stimulating and fun place for children and a tranquil, contemplative space for families.
We also have a fully functional green roof with solar panels and native wildflower vegetation, this biosolar roof brings both energy and life to The Ark. Constructed by Bridgman & Bridgman in partnership with Bauder Ltd, the roof is a flourishing wildflower meadow in the sky and not only helps to support native wildlife but produces renewable energy. We also built a brand-new multi-use building for the registered charity ‘Friends of Barnet Environment Centre’ (FoBEC). The Friends of Barnet Environment Centre provide events for the local community and activities for schools to educate and inspire a lasting interest in and appreciation of the natural world in our nature reserve which is a ‘Site of Interest for Nature Conservation’ which their volunteers also maintain.
Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice delivers excellent and compassionate palliative care plus complimentary holistic therapies. We offer 24-hour end-of-life-care, care after death and comprehensive bereavement support. We also have a full spectrum volunteer programme offering help in The Ark and in the home. We have an award-winning Play Team and a Family Link Team that offers invaluable practical and emotional support. The Family Activities Team provide a full calendar of activities for the whole family and we also have dedicated events for siblings so they can have positive and fun experiences and develop mutually supportive relationships. Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice offers one of the broadest spectrum of care of any children’s hospice in the UK. We work closely with NHS Trusts and social care organisations in our catchment area of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington and Hertsmere to provide care that was recently rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Barnet has a history of leading innovation in palliative care. Dame Cicely Saunders was born in Barnet and went on to found the modern hospice movement and more than anybody else, was responsible for establishing the discipline. She insisted that dying people needed dignity, compassion, and respect and regarded each person as an individual to the end. Now, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice is continuing this proud tradition and leading the way in innovative palliative care on the global stage. We recently welcomed Laura Dale-Harris from Global Tree House Foundation, a knowledge sharing organisation committed to bringing together providers, funders, and innovation expertise to facilitate improvements in global palliative care. The purpose of the visit was to share our knowledge with Laura and Deborah Bolognesi from the Fondazione Isabella Seràgnoli who have funded a new children’s hospice, ‘Arca sull’albero’, (which opens in October 2024) in Bologna, Italy. We shared the knowledge we gained from building a hospice from scratch but also the lessons we learned and what we would have done differently.
