Highlands & Islands Thistle Awards 2024: CHAS announced as awards’ charity partner
A family’s heartbreak of knowing their child may die young is unimaginable but it is a reality for many across Scotland.
For families facing their darkest moments, Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) provides unwavering care to children who may die young and support to their loved ones, at every step on this hardest of journeys.
It is for this reason that CHAS has been chosen as the charity partner for the Highlands & Islands Thistle Awards (HITA) 2024.
The charity was suggested by Loganair which is sponsoring two categories at this year’s awards. The airline praised the fantastic work CHAS has done over the years to support children and their families.
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Over the last three years, CHAS has directly supported 51 children across the Highlands and Islands (not Aberdeenshire) and 256 family members. This includes medical care, nursing, respite and end-of-life care, as well as emotional and bereavement support for families.
The charity’s dedicated CHAS at Home team, meanwhile, made 606 visits to provide specialist care to children in their own homes during this period.
CHAS chief executive officer, Rami Okasha, said: “We are honoured to be chosen as charity partner for the Highlands & Islands Thistle Awards 2024 and I’m sure this recognition will help increase awareness of the specialist services CHAS provides across the Highlands and Islands.
“No-one should face the death of their child alone, so CHAS nurses and doctors work closely with the NHS across the Highlands, the islands, and in every part of Scotland. We are there for families at every single step of a child’s palliative care journey – in life, in death and also after bereavement.
“The number of children in Scotland with life-shortening conditions is going up and we are expanding our teams across the Highlands and Islands and the north-east. As well as the hospices, we have nurses and a family support worker based in Inverness, and teams in all the main children’s hospitals in Scotland. Our CHAS at Home team fly hospice nurses to the islands and work across the Highlands, so children can receive expert hospice care in their own homes. We couldn’t do this without the support of so many people.”
CHAS, which is about to launch its summer fundraising campaign featuring a referred child from Aberdeenshire, supports children – from babies to young people up to 21 – and their families across Scotland in their own homes, hospices and hospitals with love, compassion and dignity.
CHAS is there from the moment of a child’s diagnosis, helping them live well and create precious memories to supporting bereaved families as they grieve the death of their child.
Working in deep partnership with health boards and local authorities, the charity ensures the right support is provided where and when the family needs it.
Palliative care, end-of-life care and respite care is offered in its two hospices, Rachel House in Kinross and Robin House in Balloch, and there are outreach teams in every local authority area providing highly skilled nursing care for children in their own homes as well as full family support.
Joint CHAS/ NHS specialist teams are found in every children’s hospital in Scotland. The only specialist Paediatric Palliative Medicine posts in Scotland are funded by CHAS and the charity’s Diana Children’s Nurses also provide specialist support alongside the NHS in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
HITA has nominated a charity every year.
Announcing CHAS as its charity for 2024, HITA chairman, Calum Ross, was proud that the awards – now in their 17th year – had chosen an organisation that supports children and families facing the hardest of all journeys.
“Knowing that your child is dying is unimaginable, it’s unbearable. But there are many families who bear it every day, and they do so because they have the support of CHAS. They are there for children, their parents, brothers and sisters – for every member of a child’s family – helping them make life as full and well-lived as possible, however short.
“HITA is proud to name CHAS as our nominated charity for 2024 and help support the incredible care it provides to so many families facing their darkest times.”
This year’s HITAs will be held at the Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness on Friday, October 4. Tickets for the ceremony and gala dinner are £110 plus VAT per person. To book tickets contact the event management team: amanda@primeeventmanagement.com
If you or your business has been shortlisted, you will receive two complimentary tickets per table of 10 purchased. The shortlist was revealed on July 15.
Covering all the regions of the Highlands and Islands; from Argyll in the west, to Moray in the east, and Orkney and Shetland in the north, the annual Highlands & Islands Thistle Awards bring together industry leaders, rising stars, new enterprises and trusted names to celebrate and recognise excellence in the sector.
HITA winners proceed to the Scottish Thistle Awards national final to represent the region and compete with the best of the rest of the country.
For more about the HITAs and to read the shortlist visit https://www.hita-awards.com/
