Good idea: Fun clubs for siblings of children with life-limiting illnesses

Provider Eureka! The National Children’s Museum
Name Eureka! Explorers
Summary Eureka! The National Children’s Museum has joined forces with the Forget Me Not Hospice in Huddersfield to provide free fun clubs for siblings of children with life-threatening or limiting illnesses.

Brothers and sisters of children with life-limiting illnesses can sometimes feel sidelined. The care their siblings receive may mean they are unable to take part in the activities their peers take for granted, and in some cases siblings also have to act as carers from a very young age.

With this in mind, the Forget Me Not Hospice in Huddersfield and Eureka! The National Children’s Museum successfully bid for £9,000 of funding from the Community Foundation for Calderdale to run fun club sessions for this group.

Kate Goldring, partnership development manager at the hospice says: “Children having the opportunity to be children and play is really important for us because we care for the whole family, not just the young person with the condition.

“It is encouraging them to be kids but also giving them the opportunity to explore their emotions with other kids who are going through the same thing.”

Although the scheme has been named Eureka! Explorers, the first session will allow the children to come up with their own name for the fun club.

The series of six free Sunday clubs will run from June to July and cover science sessions involving fun experiments on a range of themes including pirates, rockets and carnival.

The final session gives the children the opportunity to showcase their work to their families.

Steve Duncan, chief executive of Community Foundation for Calderdale, says: “The project is not only supporting local children and families, but is also a great showcase for how charities can work together, to the benefit of all involved.”