In a demanding healthcare market which currently sees us supporting over 50 projects for our NHS customers, it’s important that we take our social responsibility seriously.

Apira cares passionately about supporting charities and good causes wherever we can. Recently we announced that we have embarked on journey of support for Shooting Star Children’s Hospices as one of our chosen charities for the year. This partnership not only sees Apira provide monetary aid but also helps to shine a spotlight on how every penny donated creates a transformative impact in the lives of children under Shooting Star Children’s Hospices’ vital care.

Apira’s donation will go towards key areas of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices’ work including their Family Support Team who form an integral part of their outreach and therapies programme, and their Community Nursing Team who provide specialist care and support to families in their own homes.

Their Family Support team consists of family support workers, therapists, counsellors, social workers, and transition coordinators. They all work together to ensure that support is provided holistically to the whole family from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement. Part of this donation will go towards funding dramatherapy sessions, which allow supported children and siblings to express and identify their emotions in a safe and supportive environment. Children and young people can sometimes struggle with managing difficult feelings but by engaging in play and story-making activities they can develop resilience and learn new coping strategies.

This donation will also help them to fund their Family Support Line. Set up in 2020 as a direct response to the pandemic at a time when face to face contact was difficult for many supported families, it allows family members to call for advice and support, discuss respite, be referred for counselling or therapies or simply would just like someone to talk to. It received such good feedback that it was formalised as part of their service.

The pandemic and lockdown presented many challenges for the families they care for but to Finn and parents Niamh and Toby, the support from Shooting Star Children’s Hospices was all the more important when mum Niamh was diagnosed with cancer.

“The team at the hospice would often phone unprompted to check in because Niamh was either in hospital or at home trying to recuperate and we were shielding – simply asking if we’re ok – for me was really, really helpful. I mean, Shooting Star Children’s Hospices has been great all the way along, but the last 18 months, it brings it all home what they do. It’s a godsend when you’re at your lowest ebb.”

Toby, Finn’s dad

Finally, this donation will also help to fund their Community Nurses who assess the nursing needs of all children referred to the service and provide emotional and practical support, as well as provide nursing care to families in their own homes during the last six months of a child’s life.

Ellie Constable, Corporate Relationship Manager at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices said, “We are incredibly grateful to everyone at Apira for their generous donation. Their support will help to fund key areas of our work and will enable us to continue providing vital care to children and families who are facing the unimaginable. Thank you to everyone at the company for choosing to support Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.”

About Shooting Stars

Shooting Star Children’s Hospices cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families, across west London and Surrey. They’re here to make every moment count, whether lives are measured in days, weeks, months, or years. They support families from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional, and medical care. Their specialist care and support is free of charge and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They support around 500 babies, children, or young adults who have a life-limiting condition and their families, as well as around 200 bereaved families.

It costs £10 million a year to run Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, so they rely on the generosity of their supporters to keep their services going.

Apira reaches for the stars!

In a demanding healthcare market which currently sees us supporting over 50 projects for our NHS customers, it’s important that we take our social responsibility seriously.