Dear friend,  

I’m Pamela Armstrong and I’m one of the specialist nurses here at Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice. Today, I’m here to ask you to show your support for life-limited children across Northern Ireland and help us create the most special Christmas possible for all the ‘Little Stars’ we look after.   

People often assume the word ‘hospice’ to mean care given at the end of life and, sadly, we do look after children in their final days, giving them the chance to die with dignity. But alongside this, a huge part of our role is to enable those ‘every day’ life experiences most of us take for granted. 

Some of the Little Stars I look after have really challenging, complex medical conditions needing every bit of my 20+ years’ experience of children’s nursing. But, what we also strive to achieve – whenever we can – is to give these children special moments and experiences, which will in turn become precious memories for their families in the future.   

One of ‘my’ Little Stars is Jamie, a beautiful eight-year-old boy. I’ve known him and his mum Carla for nearly three years now and I’ve got to know them both very well. Jamie can’t move by himself and can’t communicate verbally, but he’ll certainly let you know when he’s having fun. He loves the simple things; being cuddled, playing with noisy toys and especially being the centre of attention!  

How you can help this Christmas

Firstly, if you can, please could you consider making a donation towards the cost of caring for children like Jamie this Christmas.

On average, we will have to find £30 to pay for a nurse like me to spend an hour with one of our Little Stars over Christmas

On behalf of everyone here, please accept my best wishes to you and your loved ones. Have a lovely Christmas.  

Pamela Armstrong  

Northern Ireland Hospice Children’s Community Nurse