The Co-operative Food - Rookley, Main Road

Shooting Star Children’s Hospices cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families, across South-West London, North-West London and Surrey. We’re here to make every moment count, whether lives are measured in days, weeks, months, or years. We support families from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional, and medical care. Our specialist care and support is free of charge and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We support around 600 babies, children, or young adults who have a life-limiting condition and their families, as well as around 400 bereaved families. It costs £14 million a year to run Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, so we rely on the generosity of our supporters to keep our services going.

We have a passion for community and making our area a place where people can thrive. Community to us means whole community – all ages and all abilities. We work with lots of partner organisations to bring people and services together to be able to transform lives and give people the best chance in life. So we transformed our unique space into a community hub to encourage that there was something for everyone on site. Registered as a local charity, with local trustees our volunteer team bring a wealth of skills & abilities to serve each other.

Sophie Rolf was a beautiful, happy, larger than life little girl. She enjoyed doing all things little girls love, especially her swimming and dance classes. Sophie started school in September 2011, joining her big brother Jack at St Saviours Primary School in Totland on the Isle of Wight. During May 2012 we noticed a tremor in Sophie’s left arm and, after numerous hospital visits and finally an MRI scan in June, we received the terrible news that no parent wants to hear - Sophie had a ‘Supratentorial high grade Glioma, bilateral thalamic tumour’. This is an aggressive brain tumour located in a very awkward part of the brain. We were told that the tumour was inoperable and the prognosis poor. Sophie faced things that no child or adult should have to go through. Neuro surgery to fit shunts, central line surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, a trial drug, numerous MRI & CT scans, homeopathic drugs and other tests were all met with determination, strength, courage and most of all always a smile. She made us so proud to call her our daughter. As a family we never gave up hope and actively pursued other medical opinions from Europe and the rest of the world – however each reply reinforced the original diagnosis. Sadly Sophie lost her fight in November 2013 at home alongside her family that adored her so much. She didn’t suffer and as always, she decided when the time was right. ‘KissyPuppy’ was originally set up to enable friends and family to fund raise for Sophie and initially was used to support Sophie’s journey through this including travelling to and from appointments on the mainland, any equipment needed and creating magical experiences and memories. We chose the name ‘KissyPuppy’ as this was a word Sophie used for a very special sort of cuddle and kiss reserved only for her big brother Jack. What this devastating process highlighted to us as a family was the limited healthcare options available for children with life shortening conditions on the Isle of Wight. There is no specialist children’s hospice on the Isle of Wight. Families are offered the option of travelling to Winchester for respite or end of life care, which is a three hour journey each way, relying on Ferries. Travelling to the mainland at the point when Sophie was very poorly is something we did not want to be thinking about. The Mountbatten Hospice provides comprehensive end-of-life healthcare for the Isle of Wight community. They support and care for adults living with and dying from a life-shortening illness and, working in partnership with the local NHS, they are extending these services to children. Sophie said early on in her treatment that she wanted to help other children as they have helped her.........so that is what we have pledged to do. We have joined forces with the Mountbatten Hospice and the local NHS to help support and develop services on the Island for children and young people.