About Rainbow Trust Children's Charity
When a child is diagnosed with a life threatening or terminal illness, Rainbow Trust is on hand to support the whole family.
It provides non-medical free support to all family members from the time of the child’s diagnosis through to and following bereavement, both within the family home and at its respite homes in Surrey and Northumberland.
Family support workers visit families and offer practical and emotional support, sometimes providing 24-hour cover in the last days of a child’s life.
For one family, being put in touch with Rainbow Trust was one of the best things that had happened.
Mary and Derek Harrison were referred to Rainbow Trust by doctors treating their son, Tom. Tom was diagnosed with severe heart defects and a rare medical syndrome which meant his outlook was very poor.
“My son was six months old when the hospital put me in touch,” explained Mary.
“I told them things were getting too much for me and Rainbow came in and looked after the whole family. They have been such a support to us.
“The family support worker would come with me when I had to leave the house or if my other son needed support, they would take him to school when things were bad, or take me to hospital and just hold my hand.
“Rainbow has helped me so much, I will be eternally grateful.”
When a child dies or in some cases fully recovers, it is not the end of the story as far as Rainbow Trust is concerned. It stays with the family for as long as it is needed and also encourages families to take a break at the charity’s respite homes where up to three families can be accommodated.
These respite homes are happy places where families can spend quality time together in a relaxing and supportive environment.
For Mary Harrison, her family’s visit was a blissful break, “We got there and then Rainbow took over. They cooked the meals, they did our washing, it was just a total break. It was the only holiday we ever had with our son, Tom, before he died.”
Our history
In 1982, the founder Bernadette Cleary first began to work with terminally ill children and their families.
She first became involved with the care of a 12-year-old girl called Rachael who had suffered from cancer since she was six.
When the illness returned it was her fervent wish to die at home in familiar surroundings. At that time there was no organisation to support her mother in honouring Rachael’s wish. However, Bernadette took on all the practical everyday tasks thereby allowing Rachael her last days at home with her Mum.
Bernadette soon realised that there was a gap in society, which needed filling, for families struggling to come to terms with the devastating knowledge that they had a child with a life threatening or terminal illness. There was no agency to help them deal with the practical difficulties and enormous emotional strain of their situation.
After four years of travelling the country helping hundreds of families, Bernadette and her husband established Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity in 1986, with the aim of expanding and improving the home-based care and support of children with life-threatening or terminal illnesses.
The first family support worker was employed in 1989 and Rainbow House, the respite home in Great Bookham, Surrey was opened in 1990. Rainbow Fernstone situated in Hexham, Northumberland welcomed its first family in 1996.
Today, Rainbow Trust has a network of seven regional family support teams and cares for families living in London, Greater London, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hertfordshire, Essex and Kent, and Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham, North Yorkshire, Teesside, Tyneside, Wearside and lowland Scotland.
It currently supports more than 1,000 families each year.