WE all need a place we can call home. But if your child is seriously ill, specialist equipment and treatment can mean long stays in clinical facilities that can often lack the warmth of a family base.

Hospice Helen & Douglas House, in Magdalen Road, Oxford, is one place where children and young people nearing the end of their lives can spend some time getting the care they need, while enjoying comfortable and cheerful surroundings.

And now our sneak peak of a £1.5m revamp of Helen House reveals how it has been made an even better place for ill youngsters and their families to get away from it all.

The hospice shut in November last year while it underwent some tender loving care.

A boost of £436,000 from NHS England helped with the cost of the facelift, but a further £1m was needed to complete all the work.

From last summer, generous people throughout the county dug deep to raise the remaining cash for the charity, which cares for more than 300 young people and supports more than 60 bereaved families.

Little change can be seen to the outside of the building, but when walking through, the transformation is unmistakable.

Welcoming families to the hospice is a much brighter and spacious reception, peppered with vibrant and cheerful splashes of colour.

More space between bedrooms, bathrooms and family areas will allow children in wheelchairs to whizz past each other easily, as well as meaning bed-ridden children can still access all areas of the house. With up to eight families able to stop there at a time, it is vital they have enough space to get about.

Families, on average, stay 14 nights at Helen House, which they can use however they want.

Its new look has gone down well with the youngsters that benefit from the caring surroundings of Helen House.

By far the most popular is a new “teenage den,” where youngsters can play on games consoles and watch films in the surround sound-equipped room.

Teenagers Dylan McDermot, from Standlake, and Brandon Robinson, from Buckingham, both suffer with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and visit Helen House.

Dylan, 17, said: “I think it’s much more modern and it’s not as cramped as it was before.”

Brandon ,15, said: “It’s definitely an improvement. It’s got more space and it seems a lot more modern now.”

The hard work extends to the hospice’s impressive music room, decorated with colorful musical notes in what used to be the sensory room.

Before the refurbishment, it couldn’t fit in a wheelchair, but its layout has now been changed so that everyone can enjoy it.

A large play area has also been created, ensuring children and their families have enough space to enjoy their time together.

It includes an interactive “Magic Carpet”, where games and images are projected on to the floor and controlled by moving on or over the images.

Adding this means that all children have the opportunity to learn and play despite being wheelchair-bound.

“Plummed in” oxygen, where machines are attached to the walls, is included in all bedrooms, alongside televisions and a bed for a parent to stay with their child.

Deputy director of clinical services Dr Jo Elverson said: “We are delighted with the new building, especially knowing we have access to piped oxygen and suction in every room so we can provide high quality medical care and symptom control in an unobtrusive way.

“Children and their families can get on with enjoying the lovely new space but feel confident that their clinical needs are being addressed.”

Outside each bedroom stands a magnetic tree on which children can attach their favourite pictures and photographs. Towards the end of the house, there is a room where bereaved parents can stay for as long as they need.

It also includes a book with all the names of previous house visitors who have passed away, a touching reminder to parents that they are not alone, and the support they need is there.

The house’s kitchen and family dining room were relocated to the extended part of the building, which previously formed part of the garden. They now sit near to the bedrooms so staff are better placed to cater for families and youngsters throughout the day.

Helen House also includes a spa room with a hydrotherapy pool and a new sensory room.

Nursery nurse Jackie Ardley, 49, from Buckinghamshire, said: “It’s absolutely beautiful. We are still trying to maintain the heart of Helen House, we are still trying to keep that home-from-home feel.

“It’s kind of brought it up to the modern world so that’s a really lovely thing for the children.”

Helen & Douglas House provides hospice and palliative care to children and young adults across the county and surrounding areas.

Families travel from areas including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Wiltshire to receive support from the hospice team. Young people and adults will life-shortening conditions are offered specialist symptom and pain management, medically-supported short breaks, counselling and end-of-life care.

The charity has a second hospice building, Douglas House, which opened in 2004 for young adults aged between 16 and 35. This was used during the revamp of Helen House.

The parent accommodation and conference room spaces there were used to deliver services usually based at Helen House, before children moved back from July onwards.

FEEDBACK IS 'FANTASTIC'

HOUSE manager Kathy Patching said: “The refurbishment is absolutely wonderful. It has given us new ideas, new opportunities.

“We have had fantastic feedback from the children and young people. We have young people who have got greater healthcare needs and what that causes is a need for more technical equipment and it takes up a lot of space.

“We wanted to take Helen House into the future so that technology is part of children’s opportunities today because they may not be able to do that in any other setting.”

‘We can’t wait to come back’

SEVEN-year-old Jenson Belkevitz and his family travel from Newport Pagnell to stay at Helen House throughout the year.

He has been visiting Helen House for the past three years to gain support as he suffers with Batten Disease, a fatal, inherited disorder of the nervous system that typically begins in childhood.

The condition has caused him to become blind and unable to walk and talk.

Mother-of-three Cheri Loeber said: “Coming back to Helen House after the refurbishment has been great.

“We love the colours and how so much more space has been created.

“The sensory room is a lot better as you can get a wheelchair in there now. Overall it’s lovely and we can’t wait to come back.”

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