Latest news with #childrenHospice
ABC News
4 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
WA government takes control of land next to children's hospice to allow development of 'a beautiful park'
The WA government has moved to take control of land next to the new children's hospice in Swanbourne from the City of Nedlands, after the council opposed plans to turn it into a parkland for terminally-ill children. The Perth Children's Hospital Foundation's plans to transform what it called a 'dust bowl' into a green oasis were blocked by the council, which owns Allen Park. The Lands Minister John Carey has moved to excise 3,000 square metres of land at Allen Park from council control, pending a motion in state parliament in the middle of this month. That would pave the way for the PCH Foundation's $4million plans to create a green space next to Boodja Mia, a $34 million respite and palliative care centre for children, due to be completed later this year. The City of Nedlands Council opposed the proposed park development, saying it wanted to build its own park on the A-Class reserve. A-Class classifications are used to protect areas of high conservation or high community value, but Mr Carey argued the council had not been maintaining the land in "any meaningful way". "It is a dustbowl. The Nedlands council have done nothing with this land and then right at the last minute they've said they do have a plan," Mr Carey said. "For the City of Nedlands to make some sort of claim that this land is of any significant or extraordinary value is simply false." The project will include the planting of up to 10,000 native plants, boosting tree canopy at the site to 62 per cent. Mr Carey said the park would be open to the public while also catering to patients and their families at the nearby hospice centre. The City of Nedlands has been contacted for comment.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Kinross children's hospice Rachel House set for £17m revamp
Kinross children's hospice Rachel House is set for a £17m revamp, thirty years after it hospice, which was the first of its kind in Scotland, is one of two run by Children's Hospices Across Scotland (Chas). The redesign will include an additional hydrotherapy pool, better-equipped bedrooms and fully accessible adventure work is due to start next year with the full project set for completion in 2027, subject to approval from Perth and Kinross Council. Rachel House was built in 1996 at a cost of £10m and opened by HRH The Princess supported just under 100 children a year in the 1990s, but that number has more than doubled and continues to charity said that the redesign had "put children and families at the heart of the process" with their input key to the changes being Qusai Alhamdan, whose children Mo and Elaine have been supported by Rachel House since 2021, said the hospice was "very close to our hearts."The children both suffer from ataxia with oculomotor apraxia, which causes problems with movement, co-ordination and balance. Dr Alhamdan said: "As their condition is degenerative, making memories together as a family is very important to us and we have spent many wonderful respite visits at Rachel House over the last four years."My wife Esraa and I find our visits to the hospice very relaxing because we don't have to worry about our caring responsibilities as the lovely nurses and staff take over and do everything that is needed so we can just enjoy precious time together." Ken Lowndes' two daughters Jenny and Marion were two of the first children to be cared for in Rachel House when it opened. Born healthy normal babies with a two-year age gap, both Jenny and Marion were diagnosed with leukodystrophy when they were four years old. Before Rachel House opened, the family made regular 900-mile round trips from their home in Achiltibuie, north of Ullapool, to Martin House in West Lowndes said: "We helped to fundraise for Rachel House but we never knew if Jenny and Marion would get to visit, if they'd live to see it. "They did. They loved it, as did we all."Ensuring the next generation of families has the same standard of care that my family experienced is vital and the redesigned Rachel House will go on to make a huge difference to hundreds more Scottish families." Chas chief executive Rami Okasha said the charity wanted to transform end-of-life care for children and their families in said: "No one should face the death of their child alone and to be successful we are once again asking or donors to get on board and help raise the millions of pounds that will make a difference every day for families dealing with the unimaginable reality of loving and caring for a child who will die young."
