What is The Eileidh Rose Rainbow Trust

The Eileidh Rose Rainbow Trust has been formed in memory of Eileidh Rose Paterson. The charity will come in two parts – Eileidh Rose House & Puddles Project.

Losing a child is the hardest thing a parent will go through & you want the last thing you can do for them to be as perfect as possible. It not only affects parents but also siblings, grandparents etc, yet the focus from any Funeral Director is the deceased. Currently, the deceased is taken to the hospital Chapel of Rest & then taken to the rest room at Funeral Home. When we lost Eileidh, we were extremely lucky as the ward was empty for the first time in 13 years so it allowed us to stay on the ward with her from when she passed on the Saturday, until the Funeral Director finally took her on the Monday, as her doctor arranged for us to have a cooling blanket from CHAS at home (Children’s Hospice Association Scotland). This made a huge difference to our family as they originally wanted to take her to the Chapel of Rest at 6pm on the Saturday, which was far too soon for us. From the day Eileidh was born & throughout every hospital stay, she had never been on her own & I most certainly did not want that to be the first time she would be on her own. Therefore, I want to provide this service for other families as I cannot be the only parent who doesn’t want to be separated from their child at this heartbreaking time, nor her brothers & sisters be the only siblings. When we were told Eileidh was terminal & had to fill out a CYPADM form, our options were that Eileidh could pass at home, in Palliative Care room in hospital or at Rachel House, a children’s hospice in Kinross, which is hundreds of miles away. I want to provide a 4th option, offering accommodation for the family from their final days or after passing until the celebration of life, removing the need for the deceased to be taken & avoid disruption, leaving the family unit as one up until their final farewell.

Eileidh Rose House

Eileidh Rose House aims to make the transition at end of life as simple & personalised as possible, which will be focused on families & very child orientated. The concept of Eileidh Rose House is for it to be a ‘home from home’ for the family, enabling the family to remain together as they would be at home & would be available for any family.

We are looking to have 4 houses, all adjoining a communal area, whilst each house still being private. This will enable any of the residents to interact if they wanted as no one will know how you’re feeling or what it’s like unless they are in the exact same position. It will also enable children to play together while the parents/family are busy organising the celebration. There would also be a communal garden with separate areas, including play area for children & memorial garden so they can plant a tree/flower/bush in memorial. An office would also be attached to the communal area in the house so the families will always have someone there for advice, help or just for a coffee & chat when they need some space.

Puddles Project

The Puddles Project will focus on childhood cancer. It will help parents access information about clinical trials in the UK & abroad, provide support & (hopefully) eventually create software to help diagnose children quicker, preferably at stage II, which has a higher survival rate. This will take a lot of time, effort & money so it will remain in the background for the foreseeable future.