The Sick Children's Trust

Who we are

We believe every family with a seriously ill child in hospital should be able to stay together, just minutes from their child’s bed during their treatment.

That's the future we're working towards. With your help.

The Sick Children's Trust believes keeping families together significantly improves the recovery of seriously ill children. We provide free, high-quality ‘Home from Home’ accommodation, as well as emotional and practical support, to families with sick children in hospital in the UK. 

The Sick Children’s Trust was founded in 1982 by two paediatric specialists, Dr Jon Pritchard and Professor James Malpas, who believed that having parents on hand during hospital treatment benefited a child's recovery. We are the longest-serving charity providing ‘Home from Home’ accommodation in the UK.

Every day, children are diagnosed with serious and life-threatening illnesses or have terrible accidents that leave them fighting for life. They often have to be transferred to specialist hospitals far from home to receive critical medical treatment. Life for their whole family is suddenly thrown into complete turmoil.

We work with the hospitals, supporting them in their role and providing complementary support to our families. We relieve some of the emotional and financial strains at a very stressful time, providing an essential service free of charge for up to 146 families every night, 365 days a year.