Happy 7th Birthday Jacksplace!
A party has been held at Naomi House & Jacksplace to celebrate the 7th anniversary of Jacksplace’s opening.
Jacksplace, a specialist hospice for young adults, opened alongside children’s hospice, Naomi House, on 30th November 2010.
On that day it was Her Royal Highness Sophie Countess of Wessex who led proceedings but today it was the life-limited and life-threatened young people who use Jacksplace’s service that took centre stage.
Naomi House opened in 1997 and we have cared for thousands of the South’s most medically vulnerable babies, children and teenagers, offering vital respite, community, emergency, end of life and post-bereavement care.
Advances in medicine meant that many of these children were living longer, even long into adulthood, but found the NHS and hospice network were unable to deliver the palliative care service they needed. That is why Jacksplace was built, though it was only the generous legacy of a local businessman, Jack Witham, which made it possible.
Since the Countess of Wessex cut the ribbon to declare the hospice open, Jacksplace has cared for hundreds of young adults from across Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Berkshire, West Sussex, Surrey and the Isle of Wight.
The young people staying at Jacksplace for respite care and visiting for day service sessions wanted to mark the occasion with a party of their own. They enjoyed cake, made special anniversary artworks, played games and shared memories of time spent at their state of the art hospice.
21 year old Naomi Griffin regularly visits the hospice for respite care. She told us:
It’s such a good feeling when I talk to others I meet at ‘Jacks’ who have similar conditions to me, as we chat about things that no one else understands and have a little rant about our situation. This is one of the best things I find about ‘Jacks’, that each time I meet new people in a similar situation to mine, so we always have at least one thing in common.
You can read Naomi's story here >>
Keith Wilson, Marketing Manager at Naomi House & Jacksplace, said:
I first visited Jacksplace on the day building work began. Now, at seven years old, the hospice has truly come of age. More than 120 young people receive care and support at Jacksplace, and the service is so vitally important to them and their families. The hospice continues to go from strength to strength and deliver an increasingly progressive and popular service that helps young people on good days, difficult days and last days.