Walsall Council members have unanimously backed our Children’s Care Matters campaign to save the Children’s Hospice Grant.

Funding for the Grant has yet to be confirmed beyond March 2025, meaning the future of the services provided by children’s hospices across England is uncertain.

The Council has agreed to support the campaign and urge the Government to protect the Grant for a minimum of five years, increasing it each year in line with inflation.

There were emotional accounts from Council members throughout the meeting, including Cllr Kerry Murphy, who shared her own personal story of care from Acorns.

She said: “My son and my family used the services at Acorns Children’s Hospice here in Walsall. To the outside world, you look like you are only a mother to a disabled child to some people.

“Well let me tell you, you’re not only a mum. You’re a doctor, you’re a nurse, you’re a social worker, you’re an advocate, you’re a bloody wonder woman. But people will try to tell you differently.

“When you have a child with profound mental and physical disabilities, and such complex medical needs, babysitters are non-existent. When he stops breathing and you’ve got to get the medication in, it’s only trained professionals who can do it.

“You take your other kids to school, you’re watching your son all the while until your other kids come back. Then when they’re back you ask them to watch their brother for half an hour while you make the tea, so they become young carers.

“Then your husband walks in at 7pm at night, and I’ll go to bed, then he gets me up as he’s got to go to work and I’m up all night watching our son. I was a part-time mum to my other children and part-time wife.

“So when Acorns approached me and said ‘we can offer you respite’, the relief washes over you. The relief washes over you, but also the guilt, because I should be able to look after my own son. But you can’t. You really can’t.

“I don’t know if my marriage would have made it through without the work Acorns did. They looked after my other children as well, taking them to football matches and things like that, to show them they’re not the only children who have to look after someone.

“If the services are cut, there’ll be a lot of parents out there who won’t make it through. I really can’t tell you how much it means to families like me.”

To find out more about Children’s Care Matters, visit www.acorns.org.uk/campaign