Zoe’s Place Coventry backed by Mayors civic appeal

New Mayor, Councillor Martin Walsh of Nuneaton and Bedworth’s has thrown his civic weight behind Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice’s bid to go back to 24/7 care. Following the pandemic, and due to a lack of funds, Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice simply cannot offer round-the-clock respite and care the same we did before.

At the launch of his civic appeal, he explained: “We have had the opportunity to visit Zoe’s Place on a number of occasions and it has opened our eyes with what they are offering the children with life-threatening illnesses but also what they can offer the parents – the assistance, help, support and relief at times.”

“Because caring for anyone is quite demanding but obviously when we are talking about children, very young children and babies, the stress factor must be immense. They offer support, help and respite for those parents so they can have a little bit of their own time, and they can offer siblings support. From that respect, it is a phenomenal place.

“They need funds, they desperately need funds to bring them back to the pre-covid situation when they were offering 24/7 care. They are not in that position at the moment and that is our goal. We may not achieve it for them but the more money we can raise for them, the nearer they will get.                                                               

“It costs £3,000 a day to run, that’s a large amount of money, whatever we can do with the Mayor’s charity will help them assist that goal of 24/7 care.”

Explaining why it struck so much of a chord with him and his wife Sandra, he said: “We were fortunate, we have three lovely sons who brought us five lovely grandchildren and they are, by the grace of God, are all good. But not every parent can say that. Without somewhere like Zoe’s Place, they would have nowhere.”

We are absolutely delighted to be chosen by the incoming Mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth, Cllr Martin Walsh, as the beneficiaries of the Civic Appeal for the upcoming year.

Ian Carr, Head of Fundraising for Zoë Place Baby Hospice Coventry, Said:

“We need to raise £1.4 million a year to provide much-needed respite and end of life care to babies and infants with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions between the age of zero and five.

“We are incredibly grateful for this generous gesture, looking forward to working alongside Councillor Walsh in helping raise as many funds as possible and will hugely appreciate every penny raised.

We all look forward to seeing what Mayor Martin Walsh gets up to in the next 12 months!