Our Purpose
Jamesie’s Mission exists to support children, young people and their families across the North East of England during some of the most difficult and uncertain times they may face.
Our purpose is to make the experience of having a child in hospital a little less overwhelming by providing practical help, emotional comfort and thoughtful support to children, parents and carers. Whether a family is facing an unexpected admission, a prolonged hospital stay, serious illness or the devastating loss of a child, we want them to know that they are not alone.
Hospital stays can have a significant impact on the whole family. Children and young people may experience fear, anxiety, boredom and isolation, while parents and carers can suddenly find themselves spending days, weeks or months away from home. Alongside the emotional impact of worrying about their child, families may also face additional financial pressures from travel, parking, food, accommodation and time away from work.
Jamesie’s Mission aims to help relieve some of these pressures through practical projects developed around the needs of children and their families.
Supporting children and young people:
An important part of our mission is improving the hospital experience for children and young people.
We aim to provide thoughtfully created activity and wellbeing packs containing age-appropriate arts and crafts, games, puzzles, creative activities and other items that can provide comfort and positive distraction during a hospital stay.
We recognise the important role that play and creativity can have in supporting children in a hospital environment. We therefore aim to work alongside hospital Play Specialist teams and healthcare professionals to develop holistic packs that respond to the different ages, circumstances and needs of young patients.
Our ambition is for every child receiving support from Jamesie’s Mission to have something that brings a little enjoyment, creativity and normality into an otherwise clinical and unfamiliar environment.
Supporting parents and families:
Jamesie’s Mission also recognises that when a child is admitted to hospital, the whole family is affected.
We aim to provide carefully prepared parent support packs containing practical essentials and small comforts for parents and carers who may unexpectedly find themselves staying beside their child for prolonged periods.
Where appropriate and in accordance with our charitable purposes, we also want to help families experiencing financial hardship because of their child’s hospital stay. Our trustees will aim to ensure that any financial assistance is provided fairly, transparently and according to clearly defined criteria.
Sometimes something relatively small can make a meaningful difference to a parent who has spent days beside a hospital bed. Our aim is to provide support that reminds families that somebody is thinking about them and understands how difficult their circumstances can be.
Supporting families through bereavement:
Sadly, some families we encounter will experience the devastating loss of a child.
Jamesie’s Mission aims to support these families with compassion, sensitivity and dignity. This includes providing ICU and memory-making packs containing resources that can help parents and families create and preserve precious memories with their child.
We also want to support hospitals with specialist resources that can improve bereavement care. This includes our ambition to provide privacy prams, giving bereaved families an opportunity to spend precious final time with their child with greater privacy and dignity, including the opportunity to take a final walk together where appropriate. Alongside cuddle cots and blankets to ensure families are given the extra time that they may need when a loved one passes.
We recognise that nothing can take away the grief of losing a child. Our role is not to try to do so, but to provide kindness, practical support and opportunities for families to create memories that they can treasure.
Working with hospitals:
Jamesie’s Mission intends to work closely with hospitals across the North East, initially including the Great North Children’s Hospital and Sunderland Royal Hospital.
Rather than assuming what families need, we want to listen to the professionals who work with children and families every day. By building relationships with Play Specialists, healthcare professionals, bereavement teams and other hospital staff, we can identify gaps in support and develop projects that make a genuine difference.
As the charity grows, we hope to expand our reach and develop further partnerships across the North East while remaining focused on the needs of children, young people and their families.
Building a community of kindness:
Jamesie’s Mission is also about bringing people together.
Through volunteers, community organisation’s, businesses, supporters and partnerships, we want to create a network of people who can help us provide meaningful support to families when they need it most.
Our volunteers will primarily help us prepare packs, organise projects and events, raise awareness and support the wider work of the charity.
Volunteers will not have unsupervised access to children or young people. Any interaction with young people will take place through appropriately organised events or visits and in conjunction with the relevant third-party organisation and its safeguarding arrangements.
Our long-term vision:
Our long-term vision is for Jamesie’s Mission to become a recognised source of practical and compassionate support for children and families experiencing hospital stays throughout the North East of England.
We want to build sustainable partnerships with hospitals, develop our range of support packs and projects, provide resources identified by healthcare teams, and respond to the changing needs of families.
Everything we do will be guided by a simple principle: to make difficult days a little easier.
We cannot change the reason a family finds themselves in hospital, and we cannot remove the uncertainty, fear or grief they may experience. What we can do is make sure they do not face those moments without kindness and support.
Through practical assistance, creative resources, emotional comfort, memory-making opportunities and partnership with hospitals, Jamesie’s Mission aims to ensure children and families across the North East feel seen, supported and cared for throughout their hospital journey and, where necessary, through bereavement.
At the heart of Jamesie’s Mission is a commitment to turning compassion into action and ensuring that, during some of life’s hardest moments, families know that they are not alone.