A children’s hospice is not just about dying, it is about living with uncertainty. It is not just about specialist healthcare, it is about the importance of love, kindness and compassion for those going through the most difficult of times.  

CHATUK (Children’s Hospices Across The UK) is the innovative vision of children’s nurse Francesca Lennon to raise money and awareness for children’s hospices nationally.  Her first major project will see her cycling to all 54 children’s hospice services in the UK this summer. 

Starting on 20^th June, nurse Francesca will be cycling 3,200 miles over 70 days to complete the marathon challenge by 28^th August, an average of 46 miles per day.

Inspired by her work with seriously ill children for over 10 years, Francesca has recently founded ChatUK (Children’s Hospices Across The UK), a project aimed at creating a network between the independent UK children’s hospices and educating the nation about the importance of the essential service they provide. Vitally, she’ll be raising funds for children’s palliative care charity, Together for Short Lives, to support children’s hospices.

Just four months before the start of the challenge, Francesca devastatingly experienced her own personal loss, when her best friends son Henry died from Acute Myeloid Leukaemia at 9 years old. It is with a huge amount of love that she is dedicating ChatUK to Henry and has named her bike after him too. Henry always wanted to help others and Francesca hopes that through their story she will have an even more powerful message to spread with ChatUK.

There are 54 hospices across the UK that support seriously ill children and their families during their most difficult times, but with over 99,000 seriously ill children, hospices are struggling to raise the funds that they need to continue their vital work.  ChatUK’s founding belief is that every child with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions should have access to the care and support they need and deserve. 

As part of the challenge, ChatUK is encouraging children across the UK to ‘race Francesca’ by working together to travel the same distance on their own wheels - be it by bike, scooter, wheelchair or any wheels possible!  Starting with just one mile, children across the UK are being encouraged to take on their own personal challenge to join the team and add their own miles to ‘Race Francesca’. A fundraising pack is available on the ChatUK website or for more information on how to get involved: www.chatukproject.com/race-francesca-challenge

Thank you so much for your support. Because of you, we're making a difference to seriously ill children all over the UK. 

We couldn't do it without you.