Sussex Snowdrop Trust supporting children and families
The Sussex Snowdrop Trust has been supporting children with life-shortening illnesses since 1992. Illnesses include cystic fibrosis, cancer, leukaemia, heart, lung and liver abnormalities, syndromes and many other illnesses. Here at Marchwood IFA we support the work that the Sussex Snowdrop Trust does in our community. Help and care is provided by Snowdrop to sick children and their families in the home and also at school.
Snowdrop pathway children
There are currently 57 children on the Snowdrop pathway. Nurses from the children’s Community Nursing Team can help children in the home following treatment in hospital. The team are able to help families to cope with having a very sick child at home. Children’s Community Nurses can administer treatment in the home, liaise with other healthcare professionals, give parents and carers medical advice; and listen to problems.
Healthcare and counsellor support
Healthcare Assistants can provide extra support helping to relieve families from providing care. Healthcare Assistants can take children out for a treat or provide care so that families can have time with siblings, or parents can have time with each other.
Counsellors are available to befriend and support families throughout their child’s illness. They can also provide bereavement support. Snowdrop bereavement counsellors have grown expertise in this area. Snowdrop founder Di Levantine and counsellor Phil Portway have worked with three trainee-teachers from Chichester University to develop a bereavement-counselling guide for teachers. They have produced a very important bereavement resource pack for schools. Currently bereavement is not included in the teacher-training curriculum. The Snowdrop resource is proving invaluable for schools and teachers where a pupil is diagnosed with a life threatening, or a terminal illness.
Financial support for families
The charity also gives financial support to families, helping to pay bills and fund trips to the hospital or for other treatments. Out of the income received last year 70% went directly to family care, including funding the wages of specialist Care at Home teams. The charity receives funding from individuals, business initiatives, community groups and clubs.
Despite social distancing and Covid restrictions fundraisers have still been campaigning so that they can donate to the Sussex Snowdrop Trust. When the annual Snowdrop Trust’s walk at Arundel Castle was cancelled a cancer survivor Snowy Neville stepped in. She set herself the challenge of walking 10,000 steps a day for seven days. At just seven years’ old, brave Snowy went on to complete 70,000 steps in seven days. If you would like to make a donation to Snowdrop please click here.
Critical and serious illness cover
As well as supporting Snowdrop Marchwood IFA is able to advise on critical illness cover. Critical illness insurance which; is also known as serious illness cover, protects individuals from unexpected loss of income through serious illness. Types of illnesses covered by this insurance are heart conditions such as stroke and heart attacks, multiple sclerosis, many stages and forms of cancer, permanent and total disability and many more. Many critical or serious illness policies offer automatic children’s cover which is payable as a lump sum please contact Marchwood IFA on 01243 532 635 to arrange a virtual consultation, or visit our website.
As ever we would advise you to speak to an Independent Financial Advisor about your finances. We have specialists that are able to discuss specific options with you.
To discuss life, serious illness and income protection insurances to protect a debt such as a mortgage or to make sure that your family is well looked after financially after the death of a parent, or partner; please ask to speak to Hamish Gairns.
