Pay for a Day

Oliver’s Wish Foundation has generously paid for the 29 & 30 November and the 1 & 2December 2023!

The Oliver’s Wish Foundation was founded in memory of Oliver Dowling, who tragically passed away in his sleep in the autumn of 2015. Oliver made a huge impact on all those that he met. A born entertainer, he was full of life and touched everyone with his kind and gentle nature. Oliver gave so many happy memories to his family and friends during his short life and he will be remembered with love always.

The 30th November is Oliver’s 10th birthday and he will be happy to know that his foundation is supporting the amazing work of Chestnut Tree House on his special day.

Everyone at Chestnut Tree House would like to say the most grateful thank you to Oliver’s Wish Foundation for all their support.

Every day at Chestnut Tree House is a special day where something wonderful happens. One of the ways our wonderful supporters help us continue providing children’s hospice care is by paying for a day.

We’d like to say a big thank you to Temco, who are paying for a day of hospice care on 28 November 2023

James Chapman, Managing Director, said: “We are thrilled to continue to support Chestnut Tree House and the incredible care and support they give to children and their families. With the rising costs it is even more imperative to help this wonderful charity. It is with thanks to my staff for their hard work to make this possible for another year and hopefully many more years to come.”

Paul and Annette Jones have been supporting Chestnut Tree House for as long as we’ve been caring for local children and families.

Not only are they long term Patrons and advocates for the charity, but over the last 20 years they have organised many events to raise vital funds to support children’s hospice care.

As part of this fundraising, today (20 October) they are paying for all the care services at Chestnut Tree House – at the same time their celebratory charity sportsman’s lunch is taking place at Goodwood to raise even more in aid of children who need hospice care.

On behalf of everyone at Chestnut Tree House, we’d like to say a massive thank you to Paul and Annette for their dedication, as well as to everyone who supports their charity events.

Thank you for making children’s hospice care possible 💛

St Philip Howard Catholic School fundraised to pay for a day of all Chestnut Tree House’s care services, and they selected 19 October as their chosen day.

Explaining why they chose to pay for a day of care today, Kirsten from St Philip Howard Catholic School said: “A few years ago, the Sixth Form Leadership Team thought it would be a great idea to raise money to pay for a day of care at Chestnut Tree House as we know how important community support is to the hospice.

“We have events throughout the school year, but most of the money is raised on our annual Charity Day, which takes place on St Philip Howard Feast Day on 19 October.

“This is why we chose to pay for all the hospice’s care services on this day, so while we are in school raising money, we know that the funds raised last year are being put to good use.”

Everyone at Chestnut Tree House would like to say a heartfelt thank you to St Philip Howard School for supporting local children and families.

Roger Kelly made a generous donation to pay for a day of all Chestnut Tree House’s care services on the 13 October 2023.

 Explaining why he has chosen to pay for a day, Roger said: “I wish to continue to support the wonderful work carried out by Chestnut Tree House. Being essentially self-funding, with little help from the state, they need all the help that businesses and the public can provide.”

Everyone at Chestnut Tree House would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Roger Kelly for supporting local children and families. It costs over £5m every year to provide all our specialist care services and without the generosity of our community, this simply wouldn’t be possible – now or in the future. Thank you.

The cost of all care services at Chestnut Tree House on 15th September has been paid for by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).

A total of £12,662.88 was raised through ticket sales, a raffle and an on-board auction at a special charity tour recently, to mark the retirement of the Southern fleet of Class 313 trains. The farewell tour visited Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Brighton, Three Bridges, Ore and Newhaven.

GTR have said: “The 15th September is a very special date, in memory of Danny Smith,  313 fitter from Lovers Walk, who passed away this year, his family have chosen this day in his memory.

Everyone at Chestnut Tree House would like to say a most grateful thank you to GTR for their generosity and continued support. We have to raise £10,000 every day to pay for a day of care at Chestnut Tree House, provided at the house and in the children’s own homes.

Chris Fowler, Network Operations Director for GTR and Network Rail, presented the cheque to Ella Pilkington of Chestnut Tree House. Chris said: “In the five decades the 313s have been operating, they’ve formed special memories for train crew, passengers, and customers. It’s great that in honouring their service, rail enthusiasts have raised such a magnificent sum for children’s charities.

Roffey Homes made a generous donation to pay for a day of all Chestnut Tree House’s care services, and they selected 9 September 2023 as their chosen day.

£10,000 needs to be raised every single day to pay for all Chestnut Tree House’s care services, both at the hospice and in families’ own homes and, in these unprecedented times is needed more than ever.

Everyone at Chestnut Tree House would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Roffey Homes for supporting local children and families. Without the generosity of our community, local hospice care wouldn’t be possible – now or in the future. Thank you.

Every year Worthing Crematorium seeks permission from bereaved families to raise money for charity by recycling the metal left after the cremation of a deceased person as part of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM) scheme.

The crematorium was awarded £12,000 by the ICCM this year, which it has donated to Chestnut Tree House as part of its Pay for a Day scheme – helping to support local children’s hospice care for a whole 24 hours on July 25th 2023.

We’d all like to say a heartfelt thank you to Worthing Crematorium  for their support!

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The cost of all our care services on Monday 3 July 2023 have been paid for in memory Sam Brown by the amazing fundraising efforts of the Rotary Club of Chichester Harbour.

Sam was a much-loved member of the Chestnut care team, and the hospice was an important place to him. The Rotary Club held a golf day in Sam’s memory last years raising enough to mark his 36^th birthday with a gift to Chestnut Tree House – to Pay for a Day.

A special person who loved working with the children and young people, Sam is still very much missed by Chestnut families and his colleagues.

The 20 May has been paid for by Lewis & Victoria Ramm. They told us how important Chestnut Tree House is for them:

“13 years ago today was a beautiful sunny day when our eldest daughter, Heidi, gave up her fight for life whilst in the comfort and love of Chestnut Tree House. She was just 6 weeks old. Chestnut Tree House gave us the opportunity to be a family after a long stay in hospital, where we could cuddle our daughter and make memories that would last with us always. The support and care Chestnut Tree House did not end when Heidi died; they supported us through the loss of another daughter, Eloise, 3 years later, and still continue to this day – helping us to manage our grief and keeping their memories alive.

Today, with the help of our generous family and friends, it is an honour to pay for a day at Chestnut Tree house in a way to say thank you for the incredible care that the hospice provided us with, and continue to do so.”

You can watch Heidi and Eloise’s story here.

The cost of all our care services on 26 and 27 March have been paid for by Technetix

Paul Broadhurst, CEO at Technetix said: “By taking part in Chestnut Tree House’s Pay for a Day Scheme, Technetix recognises the amazing work they do and support the difference Chestnut Tree House makes in the local community.  The dedicated team provide a caring and supportive environment, so families are able to spend precious quality time together.”

We’d all like to say a heartfelt thank you to the Technetix team for their support!

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The cost of all care services at Chestnut Tree House on 10 January have been paid for by Nick and Jan Best.

They said: “It is Jan’s birthday on the 10th January and we cannot think of a better way of celebrating than paying for a day”

Everyone at Chestnut Tree House would like to say a most grateful thank you to Nick and Jan for their generosity and continued support. We have to raise £10,000 every day to pay for a day of care at Chestnut Tree House, provided at the house and in the children’s own homes.

William Woodall’s family have paid for the cost of care for Chestnut Tree House on 2 January 2023 to honour what should be his first birthday

We wanted to do this firstly to say a huge thank to all the staff at Chestnut Tree House for the amazing care and support not just at the time William rested there but also throughout the whole year. Their help has been freely given and so very much appreciated.

“We also wanted to let William know that he will never be forgotten, he is our little star, missed so badly, loved so much, remembered always.”  

£10,000 needs to be raised every single day to pay for all Chestnut Tree House’s care services, both at the hospice and in families’ own homes and, in these unprecedented times is needed more than ever.

Everyone at Chestnut Tree House would like to say a heartfelt thank you to the Woodall family for supporting local children and families. Without the generosity of our community, local hospice care wouldn’t be possible – now or in the future. Thank you.

Thank you to Worthing United Youth FC who are  paying for all care services at local children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House on 18 December – World Cup Final Day.

The youth football club, which has more than 400 members, raised £13,000 during a charity bed push along Worthing seafront in July 2022.

Chairman Jason Nicholls said: “Chestnut Tree House offered us the chance to pick any date when our money would pay for all the hospice’s care. We thought World Cup Final day would be a winner.

“Our members did an incredible job this summer raising £13,000 for this very worthy cause. We’re hoping to raise even more next summer.”

A day of Chestnut Tree House’s care has been paid for by Mike Holland.

This is why he has chosen to Pay for a Day:

Mike said: “Many years ago, I lost my son Brian aged 13 to cancer and sadly did not have the help of a hospice. If I had, then many of the challenges my family faced afterwards, could have been alleviated. There was so little support or understanding about the need to grieve and also how vital counselling is for the whole family.”

“I want to make sure that families in Sussex have all the support they possibly can get when faced with the devastating news that a son, daughter, brother or sister is not going to reach adulthood. Chestnut Tree House provides happiness and comfort from the family’s first visit to the very last day of the child’s life. The child’s remaining days are filled with love and joy, giving their parents the memories that will last for the rest of their lives.”

From everyone at Chestnut Tree House, thank you so much to Mike for his generous support.

The cost of all care services at Chestnut Tree House onThe 29 November 2022 has been paid for by Georgia,

Here is why she chose to Pay for a Day:

“We’re delighted to have raised funds for the incredible Chestnut Tree House again, as we do annually. This year we put on a Charity Golf Day at Goodwood, which was such a success and we are looking forward to making it even bigger next year. We have chosen today as our Pay for a Day as this is Tom’s fathers birthday, who is no longer with us. Nick raised thousands of pounds for Chestnut Tree House over the years, and we will always strive to continue this legacy.”

The cost of all our care services today have been paid for in memory of Lola Geere, who died on 22 August 2021. Today would have been her 16^th birthday. Lola’s dad, Simon, explains what Chestnut Tree House means to their family:

“My employer would like to pay for a day of care at Chestnut Tree House in memory of our daughter Lola Geere, who died on 22 August 2021 from cancer. Chestnut Tree House nurses supported Lola during her palliative care at home, and Chestnut then provided advice, information, support and accommodation to our family immediately after Lola’s death. We are incredibly grateful for the respite available to us during this very difficult period, and we are thankful to have had access to such an important facility during such challenging times.

When Lola died, we were in a state of shock, and the kind, thoughtful and caring way in which we were looked after will always stay with us. We were given the chance to say goodbye to Lola in our own time, and to create some important memories and keepsakes that will stay with us forever.

In the weeks and months following Lola’s death, we have been able to receive therapy and counselling for our grief, also from the hospice.

Today, 20 June 2022 is Lola’s 16th birthday. We miss her so much, and hope that others who need help and guidance can continue to benefit from the amazing facilities, staff and support that Chestnut Tree House offers.”

– Simon Geere, Lola’s dad.