Gullys place is a special place that we wish you’ll never need, but if you need them you’ll be grateful they are there.

When we lost Alfie unexpectedly in June 2018, after he was declared dead in the resuss room they prepared Alfie for us to spend time with him in gullys. It’s a special room in the children’s ward I never even knew about (and we were frequent visitors to the children’s ward!) it was a suite with a kitchenette and lounge and a room for Alfie to be in. We had our own access and security to ensure privacy on the hardest time of our lives.

Even though Alfie’s cause of death was not known at this time, and Alfie still needed an autopsy they gave us time with him. We had family and friends come to support us in gullys suite and get to say good bye to him. Harry who was only 6 at the time had the time to understand what was going on and was not forced to see Alfie until he was ready. All of this was made possible with gullys.

Gullys is not funded by the nhs. It is a charity that relies on funding to stay open. Nearly 6 years later i honestly think that the this service was instrumental in helping me deal with the worst trauma a parent can imagine. It gave us time with our son, family time to say goodbye and support us in the comfort of a well equipped environment. We were given 3 teddies one for Alfie, one for harry and one for John and I. I still sleep with the teddy bear Alfie is sleeping with. I still have the handprint we did together in gullys, and the lock of hair given to us. Gullys helped me in so many ways making an unbearable situation slightly less unbearable.

So now we want to help others who may need gullys. So John is running 100k on the 25th may. London to brighton to support a charity that supported us in our darkest day.

Across Dorset, there are around 400 infants, children and young people with a life-limiting or life-threatening illness.

These children can have a short life expectancy and may not survive to adulthood. They may need palliative care for weeks, months or years before the approach to end of life.

Gullys Place Trust Fund has been developed to support these children and their families from diagnosis to death and beyond, including bereavement support.

The Gullys Place Suites, provide children and their families with a comfortable and homely environment, with professional support on hand. We also extend that support to recreate the Gullys Place environment wherever care is needed, be it in hospital, home or elsewhere.

Gully's Place is part of University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity - registered charity no. 1057366.