Demelza House
Demelza offers care for children with life limiting conditions in South London Kent and East Sussex, through their hospice near Sittingbourne and Hospice at Home care in East Sussex with the Demelza-James nurses.
History
The Demelza House Childrens Hospice Charity was launched in 1994 by Derek and Jennifer Phillips. Their daughter, Demelza, had worked in a childrens hospice in Birmingham, but tragically died in 1990 of a brain tumour aged just 24. The hospice left a huge impression on Derek and Jennifer when they visited it for Demelza's memorial service and they felt that the South East was in need of a similar place full of cheerfulness, affection and understanding.
Four years after the launch of the charity, the doors of Demelza House Hospice, set in 6 acres in Bobbing, were opened to the first children. Catering for up to 12 children, there is also accommodation for their families as the hospice offers both day and short term residential care 365 days a year. Last year alone it cost £3.5 million to keep the Demelza family running, all which must come from voluntary donations.
The Future
This year Demelza launched their CHILD project, to raise money to build a 6 bed hospice and provide 2 Hospice at Home Nurses, to offer the same great care for South London. A site has already been secured in Eltham and planning permission granted. Now comes the hard part - raising the money. Visit the Demelza website for more info.
The Gropers are proud to support Demelza
Lez Steer got involved with the fundraising to build the hospice in Bobbing in February 94 and in her own words " Striker (our chairman) had no choice but to get invovled." From there very soon the rest of the Gropers pitched in and have continued to do so for over 10 years now. We raise money for the childrens Summer Barbeque and Christmas party, provide eggs for Easter and simply turned up on the bikes at events to give the kids some fun. No indignity is too much in the name of Demelza and that includes male pixies in tights and BIG belly dancing. In 2005 we raised £1000.
This year, our Thirtieth Anniversary, we hope to make a special effort and raise even more, so visit our Demelza thread in the forum for all the latest and how you can help.
