The Shooting Star Children's Hospice Story

Shooting Star House provides care and support to children and young people living with a life-limiting condition and their families. With 10 children's bedrooms, 6 family rooms and facilities including the Hydrotherapy Pool & Spa, The Sensory Room and wet and dry play areas, along with the Lifelites’ educational and entertainments’ technology, they offer a "home from home" environment to families who find themselves in the most unimaginable circumstances.

Jan Buckingham works as the Care Support Team Leader at the hospice where they currently have nearly 190 families on their books including those receiving an outreach (community) service in the children’s homes and post-bereavement support.  

Jan says: “The Lifelites’ equipment is always very well used and provides us with a very useful means of keeping families occupied when they visit the hospice.  Occasionally, families are resident here for prolonged periods so we have to have some way to keep them entertained. The Lifelites computers, TVs and games can help do just that.

“People see the computers as an important way of keeping in contact with their lives outside of the hospice.   Parents will often send and receive work emails. Patients and their siblings do their homework which means that they can maintain a semblance of normality in their lives – something we see as essential at what is a very difficult time for all of them.

“We had one parent who was in here with her child for a very long time.  She ran a local support group. She was able to continue that role throughout her stay using the Lifelites computers to communicate with her members and also, to search the Internet. 

“We’ve had the service from Lifelites ever since the hospice opened its doors to our young patients, so we’ve got a pretty good idea of what works and what the families use most.  To make the most of the Lifelites offer when it comes up for renewal, we have a few ideas about how their service could be improved in line with developments in home entertainments technology.  What about a Wii machine?  It would be great for getting the kids playing and interacting together.  Or hand held computer games – the children just love them and it would keep them occupied for hours.

“We know it costs a lot of money to buy and maintain the Lifelites equipment and for all the Broadband and Sky costs.  With no long-term statutory government funding, the £2.5 million required each year to run the hospice, comes from charitable voluntary donations and fundraising so it would be difficult for us to provide everything that Lifelites does.  Also, because Lifelites looks after anything to do with the equipment trouble-shooting and maintenance, it means that we can concentrate our efforts on caring for the children and their families, which is what we’re here to do.

“We are extremely grateful to Lifelites for the invaluable assistance they provide with our care for children and their families at Shooting Star House.”