Tŷ Hafan launches appeal amid national emergency

The Sully-base charity needs help fund its care for life-limited children who are some of the most “at risk” in the country.

The charity, which provides care and support for life-limited children and their families across Wales, has already seen a significant drop in income and requires urgent support as they battle through the most challenging period in 21 years with a forecasted income loss in excess of £2m this year.

Tŷ Hafan relies on the public's generosity to help keep services afloat.

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Staff continue to provide end-of-life care at the hospice, and they are adapting to the new circumstances by providing ‘virtual care’ to families who are isolating in their homes over the coming months.

The charity had a number of big fundraising events planned for the coming months to build on its £1.5 million hospice refurbishment project, which began in January this year.

With these events now cancelled and limited fundraising activity underway, Tŷ Hafan now faces up to the twin challenges of trying to complete the necessary work by July, and keep frontline services fully funded.

Ty Hafan’s fundraising and retail director, Julian Hall said: “Times are tough for everyone right now, but this emergency does represent something of a perfect storm for us here at Tŷ Hafan.

"We are in the middle of a refurbishment, care is more difficult to provide under new rules, and much of our fundraising is at a halt.

"Lots of our avid supporters who had fundraising events and challenges planned over the next few months have had to cancel or postpone their activity, meaning that our income has stalled.

"We’ve also had to close our 25 shops across Wales and can no longer receive any donated goods.”

Tŷ Hafan has had to cancel some of the biggest events in the fundraising calendar, including the original Welsh3peaks Challenge which has been running for 22 years, the 10nTaff Challenge and an overseas trek to Cambodia that was set to raise more than £70,000 alone.

He added, “It’s going to be a testing year for us, but we’re already encouraged by the support that we’ve received.

"We’re lucky enough to have so many loyal supporters who are going above and beyond for us by coming up with creative fundraising activities that they can do from their homes.

"We are hoping to get lots of people signed up to our Virtual Marathon in May, a challenge that can be completed at home, and I’m sure there will be other ideas in the pipeline.”

Tŷ Hafan’s director of care, Deborah Ho said: “Throughout this pandemic, doing all we can to keep our services running.

"We are changing the way we work.

"Our community and family support teams are still caring for families who need help and we have started delivering a ‘virtual care’ programme that incorporates play, music and massage therapy demonstrations for families to do together at home.

“The children we care for really are some of the most at risk in the country.

"They (the families) know that their children may be at greater risk which is an additional worry on top of the unthinkable challenges they face every day.

"Our services are a vital lifeline to them at this moment in time.”

She added: “The government restrictions put Tŷ Hafan families in an even more isolated position, so it’s more important than ever that we ensure that they feel supported and not alone.

“Regular donors are potentially our only reliable source of income at the moment, but we can’t rely on our loyal supporters alone to help us raise the £4.5m that Tŷ Hafan requires annually.

"We’re urging people, if they even have just £5 to spare, to think about donating it to Tŷ Hafan to help support our services at this incredibly challenging time.”

To help to Tŷ Hafan, visit tyhafan.org/fitforfuture