Founder of Hope House Children’s Hospices steps down after 35 years

The founder of Hope House Children’s Hospices, one of the region’s biggest charities, is stepping down as one of its principal trustees.

It was 35 years ago that Barbara Evans, now 73, together with a small group of parents and healthcare professionals, came up with the idea of a hospice to support local children with life-threatening conditions and their families.

“It doesn’t feel like 35 years, not at all, because if you enjoy what you are doing and you can see children and families benefitting then time just flies,” says Barbara.

The original working group comprised Caroline Peachey, whose daughter Hope the hospice was named after; Sally Day, who at the time was Chief Executive of Acorn’s Children’s Hospice at Birmingham; and local businessman Mike Mortimer.

“Most of us hadn’t been to a children’s hospice in our lives,” recalls Barbara. “Sally invited me to Acorns and I was nervous and went around the block four times before I could go in. But once inside that was it! It was life-changing for me.

“Yes there were tough times at the beginning when we needed to raise the first £1 million to open, but I always thought ‘this is about the children’. And no matter where I went in the early days I always met families saying that they needed somewhere like Hope House and it couldn’t happen soon enough, and other people saying they wanted to support us, and that is what kept us going.

“We found some land and applied for planning permission, then the Bradbury Trust came along and said if you can build your hospice in 12 months, we will give you £1million towards it! That was a huge incentive, and we fundraised like mad to match that million!

“The appeal really took off when the Shropshire Star Women’s Editor Shirley Tart got involved. After that we were all out four or five nights a week talking to community groups and collecting cheques. We were doing our own admin, and our Board meetings were around an old table in an office in Welsh Walls in Oswestry. It was very hands-on for the first four or five years, for ourselves and for our families too!

“When Hope House opened in 1995 I felt proud, thrilled and emotional because we’d achieved something amazing, but also afraid because we might not raise enough money to actually continue into the future. Gradually you realise that it’s not just the £1.5 million to build it, but it’s the money needed every year to keep it running.

“Fortunately, by then there were other people involved and they had business experience, and we had our first Chief Executive David Featherstone who was business-orientated.

“It wasn’t long before a second hospice was mentioned and we wondered if we could afford it. But then we listened to the children and families in North Wales who were telling us Hope House was a long way to come.

“We had a meeting at the home of one of our North Wales trustees, Janette Welch, and decided ‘let’s do it!’. I remember myself and fellow trustee Sarah Kearsley-Wooller being so upset that we were gazumped on the first piece of land we found so we drove around and had a nosey at an old garden centre on a beautiful hillside and said, ‘this is it’.

“We got planning permission and the two dreams came together and Tŷ Gobaith was born.”

Although the hospices themselves are an amazing legacy, it is the people Barbara has met over the years who have touched her the most.

“One of my first memories was meeting Freda Gibbs from Mid Wales and her son Tony. Freda had watched Tony develop normally until he was seven-years-old and then he got this dreadful condition and she watched him deteriorate, but at that time nobody believed her.

“He was stumbling and he wasn’t progressing and everyone kept telling her she was a fussy mum, and an anxious mum. But he was really very poorly with a rare chromosomal condition. Sadly Tony never got to use Hope House but in Freda we had a champion who supported Hope House to the nth degree and still does.

“It was so sad when Tony died but it wasn’t the end of their story, because Freda’s daughter had a son who also had the condition and he did come to Hope House.

“Another more recent memory which means a lot to me is when the Care Team went out of their way to provide end of life care to a baby in the gardens at Hope House. For me that was about how far we had moved from the days when end-of-life care had to be in a clinical setting, to being able to meet the individual needs of a family and support them in their choice. That was wonderful.

“I also remember vividly our first Board meeting at the hospice itself, and coming here after a challenging day at work and seeing children racing their wheelchairs around Hope House. I thought that was absolutely fantastic because that is what children do, they don’t sit in bed.”

During the last 35 years Barbara, who lives in Shrewsbury with her husband Neil, has been both Chair and Vice Chair of the charity’s Board, attends all of the board meetings and is a regular visitor to Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith and fundraising events.

She says she wants to retire from the position while she is still 100% committed and active and not find herself in a position where she is doing less.

But far from retiring from volunteering, she has another project lined up with the Prison Service, as well as being a volunteer tour guide and researcher for both the National Trust and Longner Hall, near Shrewsbury.

“I believe you’ve got to keep your mind and your body busy, so I won’t be sitting in front of the television all day long, and of course I will still support Hope House and help whenever I can,” she adds.

“My wish for the future would be that Hope House Children’s Hospices continue to develop to meet the changing needs of the children and the families in this area, whatever those needs might be. It takes people with lots of energy to think of how we meet those growing and changing needs.

“I’ve really loved working with everyone I have met at the charity over the years, and of course meeting the children and the families, and the supporters and volunteers without whom none of this could have happened. I’m so, so proud of what has been achieved, and that I played a very small part in that.”

Barbara’s board colleague and Chair of Trustees Steve Henly paid tribute to Barbara and said she would be sadly missed.

“35 years is an extraordinary achievement,” he said. “We can’t thank Barbara enough for her vision, her service and her steadfast belief in the charity and its purpose.

“Barbara has helped to build something truly special and her impact on the lives of so many children and their families is immeasurable.”