We realise this is a very sensitive project and it may bring up difficult feelings for some of you.
We are looking to make some cotton and fleece quilts for the hospice as an ongoing project. Becki from Haven House has written below for us, it is better she explains the project.
A very sad but vital part of our work at Haven House is the care of babies, children and young people at end of life and post bereavement.
Sometimes we do not meet the families until after their child has passed away and they come to us to spend precious time with their child before the funeral.We also work with families in their own homes and being able to keep their child with them is a choice every parent should be able to make.To facilitate this, we use cooling blankets and cuddle cots. I am sure you understand what they are for, so I won’t go into detail.
As useful as they are, they are a clinical and ugly piece of equipment, and we need your help to make them look more friendly and comfortable. To this end we would like some of your beautiful quilts to lay on top of the pads. The sizes of the pads are
- Small cooling pad ( 154mm x 290mm )
Large cooling pad (400mm x 550mm )
It would be helpful to have the quilts slightly bigger than the pad.
We would like them to be fleece backed to make them less slippery and to help with absorbing any water from the cooling systems.
Thinking about the designs: lots of pattern, avoiding very light or very dark colours. Child friendly and they can be gender specific or gender neutral to appeal to the biggest range of families. Some are quite traditional, and others just want to celebrate their girly girls and boyish boys.
It is likely that some families will want to keep the quilts, and we would very much like to let them.
It is difficult to predict how many we will need each year. Sadly, we supported several families in the last 12 months but in previous years we may only see 1-2 families in these circumstances.
My plan is to have a ‘home kit’ ready for our outreach nurses. This will contain bedding, quilts and blankets as well as the clinical equipment our team need to care for the child.
I want every family to have access to the best care at this time, I cannot provide the medical expertise, but I know, with your help, I can ensure the environment is as kind and comfortable as possible.
Love B x
With your love and support we believe we can help these families in such bleak times.
To sum up then, we are looking for lightweight quilts, cotton topper, some batting in the middle (light to medium weight) with fleece backing. We know we have many crafters who sew beautifully, and this is such a simple project really.
Sizes
Small cooling pad ( pad is 154mm x 290mm ) – let us say make approx 160 by 300mm
Large cooling pad (pad is 400mm x 550mm ) – let us say make approx 420 by 570mm
Suggestions for fabrics above.
While we’d like to get some quilts in both sizes to the hospice soon, this is an ongoing project, and we will add it to the others. So this des not need to be a rush.
Thank you so much everyone, we really appreciate you all.