Kaleidoscope Children’s Palliative Care – taxi account

We continue to provide a monthly taxi account for the Kaleidoscope service, based in West London.  This account allows families in their care to attend hospital appointments and access services. Our longstanding relationship with Kaleidoscope is expressed well in this testimonial from Sandra Hall, the Children’s Palliative Nurse Specialist:

JHHHT has helped the Kaleidoscope children and families by improving the overall quality of their lives in so many different ways. So many aspects of daily life that most of us take for granted as being normal are often so difficult for parents who are caring for very complex life limited children. JHHHT has provided taxis to attend hospital outpatient appointments, to get to shooting Star children’s hospice for respite stays and even on one occasion, for a parent to attend their child’s funeral. Even if some of these parents could drive they would not be able to give care like administering oxygen and drive a car. JHHHT has helped to improve quality of life by funding massages for Kaleidoscope children and their parents to relieve the physical stress of caring and to ease discomfort for the children; it has funded sensory toys which are expensive and often unavailable in shops; it has funded extra therapy for a child when NHS funding was not available.  JHHHT even funded a short break for a bereaved mother and her parents to enable them to visit the cemetery where her daughter was buried which she had not been able to do alone without the support of her parents. Both Karen Stewart, Kaleidoscope Play Specialist, and myself know that without the support and funding that Kaleidoscope families receive from JHHHT, many of our Kaleidoscope children and families would not be living and trying to enjoy their lives to and be as normal as possible for as long as possible. We are lucky to have JHHHT support and funding as without this Karen and I would struggle to provide all the things that really matter for life limited children and their families.