Paul’s House, London

Paul’s House, London

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of our supporters, we were able to contribute £1.1 million towards the costs of a much-needed new facility. We have worked with our friends at Young Lives Vs Cancer to establish a new home from home for the families of children being treated at University College London Hospital. Paul’s House, named after Paul O’Gorman, opened in September 2010. More than 200 children and teenagers with cancer are treated at UCLH every year. Only one third are from the London area, with the remainder travelling from all over the south east of England. Children can be admitted to hospital for months at a time. Parents naturally want to remain close at hand but hospital accommodation is very basic, with no facilities for families. This causes immense pressure on families, who can end up being separated for long periods.

Keeping families together

With 15 spacious family rooms and located just a few minutes walk from UCLH, it offers the whole family a place to stay for as long as necessary. Not only is this an enormous help financially, saving families the cost of hotel accommodation, but it gives parents somewhere to retreat, away from the pressures of the hospital ward. Paul’s House also benefits children travelling to UCLH for day-care procedures. They can now stay with a parent at Paul’s House rather than being admitted to the ward.