CLAIRE HOUSE

Claire House, which is based in Clatterbridge Hospital, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. It was founded in 1999 to give families a choice: to be that ‘home from home’ for children who suffer from life limiting and life threatening conditions, to ensure that all the children have some special quality time, as well as to allow families to have those moments together.

Claire House recognises that life is precious - however long or short that might be.

Claire House is one of 39 children’s hospices around the UK supporting families in crisis. Its work is entirely dependent on voluntary contributions and it receives no regular government funding. Its staff is hugely committed to providing best standards of care.

Although situated in Clatterbridge Hospital over 60% of children who receive care from Claire House actually come from Liverpool.

What can we at Shorefields do to help?

Shorefields is adopting Claire House as its Charity of Choice in 2010 and all of our fundraising events will go to support this worthy charity.

Talk to your families and tell them how important it is to support such a worthy cause - maybe they will donate too!

Next term we will be looking for more fundraising ideas and so discuss it during tutor time and bring it up at Student Council sessions, then speak to Mr Wilson or Mrs Ellison about your ideas.

If you’re unsure about exactly how much money is needed to keep Claire House functioning, perhaps this information will help you?

We need to raise £200,000 every month to keep the doors of the hospice open.

£2,500 will fund a nurse and their costs for one month
£1,750 will provide for the physiotherapy needs of the children each month
£1,500 will give 24 hour medical cover for one month
£550 will provide family and bereavement support each week
£400 will fund our pharmacy and sundry expenses
£110 will cover the daily cost of meal times for the children and their families
£90 will keep our vehicles on the road for one week
£60 will fund play activities for the children and their siblings daily
£30 will fund our hydrotherapy pool for one day

MR WILSON RUNS MANCHESTER TO LIVERPOOL FOR CLAIRE HOUSE

Mr Wilson undertook a huge feat by running from Manchester, as did Mr Young in accompanying him. They received fantastic support from Merseyside police who picked the party up at Bowring Park and drove alongside from there, with their lights flashing.

Mrs Brown and her team in the DT department in school made and sold cakes and raised an absolutely brilliant £250.

Mrs Edwards and Mrs Sweeney along with students from 7.3 and Year 10 ran stalls in the hall at lunch time on Thursday and Mrs Lockhart put on a martial arts display where, for a small fee, children could join in.

Students donated money each time they came to the canteen at break during the last week and we raised nearly £100 from that.

Without the generosity of everyone connected to Shorefields, not only by giving their money, but by giving their time as well, we would not be presenting Claire House with nearly as much money.

Mr Wilson's run from Manchester to Liverpool

About the Run

Ably supported by Mr Young who cycled the route alongside, Mr Wilson ran the 35 miles from his home city-Manchester to Shorefields, in the amazingly quick time of 4 hours and 10 minutes. Fuelled by copious amounts of Jelly Babies (Mr Young) and Granola bars (Mr Wilson) the dynamic duo set off at 8.00 a.m. and by the time the staff met for their briefing, we were aware that they had covered six miles. By the time Ms Hart joined them at the Cronton Roundabout, 15 miles from home, Mr Wilson was well into his stride and after an emergency stop for Jelly Baby reinforcements, Mr Young too, was going strong.

Throughout first two lessons, news of the ‘road trip’ was phoned into school and broadcast on the plasma screen in Reception and it soon became apparent that their ETA at school was going to be considerably earlier than the expected 1.00 p.m.
Twelve students were due to accompany the party from Aigburth Cricket Club and their leisurely change into their kit during lesson 3, turned into a mad dash to throw on trainers and Claire House T shirts and scramble into the mini bus.

School was put on alert and once the party had passed Mersey Road, a bell was to be rung to signal the whole school to go outside and welcome everyone home.
As the runners proceeded along Aigburth Road, cars tooted their horns in support and people came out of shops to cheer the group towards their destination.

Entering the school grounds, they ran onto the field to rapturous applause and cheers from the whole school. A tremendous feat and all for a really worthy cause.

Mr Wilson hopes to raise over £2000 for Claire House and is well on the way to that target, due to the generosity of Shorefields’ students and staff, and their families. Thanks also goes to the people who donated after hearing Mr Wilson’s interview on Radio Merseyside.

The students who supported the run were:

Thomas Atkinson, Daniel Atkinson, Lauren Warburton, Rachael Sharkey, Demi Fearon, Josh Montgomery, Kenneth Nimmo, Mark Rooney, Amy Durkin, Sharif Yusef, Steven Morgan and Liam Gillam, who was really disappointed as he was injured and couldn’t join in.