Care For KIds North Devon

Who we are

Care for Kids North Devon provides instant financial assistance to families that have a child diagnosed with a life-threatening illness e.g. a cancer, a heart condition, cystic fibrosis or a head injury. Because of North Devon’s rural location, all seriously ill children are now treated in specialist Children’s Hospitals in Bristol or beyond. For families in North Devon this means the loss of earnings, subsistence costs and travel costs for parents traveling and staying in Bristol, Oxford, Birmingham or London.

Care for Kids provides a lump sum to help alleviate financial concerns for families in this situation, whilst they adjust to having a very sick child and to having one or more parents away from home. To date, Care for Kids North Devon has supported 100 local families with instant and in some instances, secondary financial assistance packages.

We also enhance the Children’s Ward with little extra’s that make life more bearable on the ward so far we have provided:-

Our latest project has been to enhance Cubicle 5 an isolation room for children who can spends several weeks or even months in these rooms,

Cubicle 5 has been specially lined and painted, shelves have been fitted,beautiful artwork which was kindly licensed by @Becky Bettesworth is now in place in the room. A sparkly new bathroom has replaced the old fashioned tiles and of course, there is a TV!! With Netflix’s too!!

We have also enhanced  the parents room in 2017 which is now a pleasant room to prepare food and snacks watch some TV and have a coffee.

Projects we have completed over the last 10 years are –

Large screen television, Wii, Playstation 4, a large sofa, bespoke beach hut units and a quiet reading corner with a dressing up area. Portable DVD units for the children’s bays along with a choice of toys and games that are kept in the bays on the ward. Custom made cloud blinds for the playroom and a 3D Pain Distraction Unit for the treatment unit.  The Ladywell stairwell with local pictures which were chosen through a photo competition 2016.

The Charity provides assistance for families of children receiving care through the children’s Ward or clinics of North Devon District Hospital or specialist hospitals related to the North Devon District Hospital.