THE IDEA
The idea of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice was born in 1999 when our founder, Michael McInerney experienced the death of a family child in a local hospital and became quickly dissatisfied with lack of palliative care options in the area. In 2006 the charity had fully materialised in the form of a small office in London Colney, where the team offered Hospice-at-Home and community-based services, but the idea of building ‘The Ark’ had started to grow.
It was an ambitious idea – to build the first new London children’s hospice for ten years and the first and only children’s hospice in the area. We had to get it right, so we consulted with families on the specification of the building, giving them a voice in the design of the facility to ensure The Ark was going to, not just meet, but exceed their needs.
FUNDRAISING
Building The Ark was going to take time, it was going to take nerve and most importantly it was going to take money. Luckily, we had the indefatigable Alison Goodman, the then Director of Income Generation & Communications (currently our Deputy CEO) at the helm. Alison and her team devised and implemented a range of innovative fundraising events and campaigns to raise the money to build this much needed facility. The ‘Give an Hour’ campaign encouraged supporters to donate an hour’s salary towards the build costs. The ‘London’s Crying Out’ campaign focussed on the genuine need in the community for exceptional palliative care. Actor Caroline Quentin even hosted a Construction Industry Event to help lower build costs with key industry partners. There were choirs, there were film premieres and there were no avenues left unexplored. One of the most moving campaigns was ‘In Time for Sophie’. Sophie’s grandmother Rose has looked after Sophie, who has a life-limiting genetic condition, since she was little. Sophie’s brother Ben died in 2014 from the same condition and Rose wanted Sophie to have the care and comfort that wasn’t available to Ben. Alison also used her impressive celebrity contacts to pull in support from Ed Sheeran, Melvin Odoom, Richard Curtis, Gary Lineker, Gaby Roslin, Sharon Osbourne, and Stephen Merchant amongst many others.
Alison Goodman, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice’s Deputy CEO said:
‘I was extremely proud to be a part of building The Ark. I’m constantly humbled by the generosity of everyone who helped us build this extraordinary place. Over the past five years we have made it possible for the children and families we support to make the most of every day and will continue to do so for many years to come.’
THE BUILD
After a herculean four-year fundraising effort and supported by the amazing generosity of celebrities and our community, construction started in 2017 with Samantha Cameron breaking ground on the ambitious £10 million project. Samantha said: ‘When my son Ivan died we were devastated, and we will always remain so. It’s something no parent should have to go through.’
Set in a stunning 7.5-acre nature reserve just ten miles from central London and run by specialists in paediatric palliative care, The Ark was carefully designed to meet the needs of children at different stages of their lives and to be a haven of calm and safety. The 2,200m² facility was designed by architecture firm Squire & Partners and was shortlisted for the 2021 RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) London Architecture Awards. Murray Levinson of Squire & Partners said: ‘Our concept always focused on the experience of a child, creating a building set into the landscape with wings like outstretched arms which invite families into the heart of the building with a double-height timber-framed central hall full of light and life.’
We were lucky enough to receive pro bono or at cost support from the construction industry including a fully fitted commercial kitchen donated and installed by McDonalds that services our beautiful ‘Rainbow Café’. Paul Pomroy, Chief Executive of McDonald’s UK and Ireland launched the new facility and said: ‘I’m so proud that McDonald’s was able to help in our small way to support children and families on the tough journey that they face.’
THE ARK OPENS
The Ark was opened on the 26th of September 2019 by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and representatives from our corporate partner, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club including then captains Hugo Lloris and Jenna Schillaci. As with all ambition plans, there were bumps in the road and one of those bumps was Covid. We received our CQC sign off in January 2020 and started on a pilot scheme shortly afterwards to welcome a few children for overnight stays with a view to being fully open at full capacity in August 2020. But – as we were planning our opening and discussing furniture choices, calls started coming in from local hospitals and Great Ormond Street Hospital asking for help with accommodating children with Covid. We had a choice to make, we could either close and disperse our clinical skills into the NHS or stick to our timescales and prepare to open in August or open early, ill-prepared and un-tested. As one of our core principles is courage, we went with the latter and all our staff went into overdrive to get the essential things we needed to look after children and families. Many of our staff were furloughed and the Family Link and Play Team were seconded into Clinical Care. Our Director of Care, Hayley Manley, even moved into The Ark with her dog. Our first young person arrived in March 2020 with 14 family members and their family dog. Hayley knew she had made the right decision when she saw the young person pushing his friend around in his wheelchair being chased by the dog, filling The Ark with laughter. She knew that without us that young person would have died alone in hospital without the comfort of his family. In that first year, 30 children died in The Ark surrounded by people that loved them instead of alone on a ward. We had built a home, a community and a team that could really make a difference to the children and families we support.
The Ark
The Ark offers holistic therapy in fully hoisted sensory, soft-play, music, creative and hydrotherapy rooms and care after death in our two Butterfly Suites. We also have a multi-faith room that offers space for contemplation and prayer whilst accommodating the family’s spiritual needs and respecting the way they approach the end of their child’s life. We have six children’s bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms on our Woodlands Wing and three family suites in our Meadows Wing. Our fully accessible playground allows all children to get involved with everything from a wheelchair seesaw to a trampoline and accessible swing. The nature reserve has The Children’s Sensory Trail, which is made from recycled rubber tyres and is fully wheelchair accessible, extends 1.2km around The Ark’s 7.5-acre nature reserve. The path passes around our Butterfly Meadow, Wildlife Ponds and Bluebell Wood, and includes various resting spots dotted around the trail. The Sensory Garden is situated immediately outside The Ark’s Atrium and Woodlands Wing. The garden is an interactive, therapeutic social space designed for everyone; for children and their families, as well as Noah’s Ark staff and volunteers. The garden includes plants and flowers with interesting textures, colours and aromas, as well as sensory instruments. It provides a stimulating and fun place for children and a tranquil, contemplative space for families.
We also have a fully functional green roof with solar panels and native wildflower vegetation, this biosolar roof brings both energy and life to The Ark. Constructed by Bridgman & Bridgman in partnership with Bauder Ltd, the roof is a flourishing wildflower meadow in the sky and not only helps to support native wildlife but produces renewable energy.
We also built a brand-new multi-use building for the registered charity ‘Friends of Barnet Environment Centre’ (FoBEC). The Friends of Barnet Environment Centre provide events for the local community and activities for schools to educate and inspire a lasting interest in and appreciation of the natural world in our nature reserve which is a ‘Site of Interest for Nature Conservation’ which their volunteers also maintain.
NOAH’S ARK CHILDREN’S HOSPICE SERVICES
Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice delivers excellent and compassionate palliative care plus complimentary holistic therapies. We offer 24-hour end-of-life-care, care after death and comprehensive bereavement support. We also have a full spectrum volunteer programme offering help in The Ark and in the home. We have an award-winning Play Team and a Family Link Team that offers invaluable practical and emotional support. The Family Activities Team provide a full calendar of activities for the whole family, from pamper days for mums, nights out specifically for dads that offer the chance to meet other parents. We also have dedicated events for siblings so they can have positive and fun experiences and develop mutually supportive relationships. Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice offers one of the broadest spectrums of care of any children’s hospice in the UK. We work closely with NHS Trusts and social care organisations in our catchment area of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington and Hertsmere to provide care that was recently rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
WE’VE COME SO FAR
Barnet has a history of leading innovation in palliative care. Dame Cicely Saunders was born in Barnet and went on to found the modern hospice movement and more than anybody else, was responsible for establishing the discipline. She insisted that dying people needed dignity, compassion, and respect and regarded each person as an individual to the end. Now, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice are continuing this proud tradition and leading the way in innovative palliative care on the global stage. We recently welcomed Laura Dale-Harris from Global Tree House Foundation, a knowledge sharing organisation committed to bringing together providers, funders, and innovation expertise to facilitate improvements in global palliative care. The purpose of the visit was to share our knowledge with Laura and Deborah Bolognesi from the Fondazioe Isabella Seràgnoli who have funded a new children’s hospice, ‘Arca sull’albero’, (which opened in October 2024) in Bologna, Italy. We shared the knowledge we gained from building a hospice from scratch but also the lessons we learned and what we would have done differently.
Laura Dale-Harris said:
’Every visit to Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice is always inspiring, and our recent visit was no exception. Everyone we met is passionate about delivering the highest quality of care, setting a benchmark for excellence in supporting seriously ill children and their families. I was pleased to facilitate a visit for a new children’s hospice from Italy, fostering an exchange of knowledge and best practices. This collaboration highlights the invaluable role Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice plays in our global community, sharing innovative approaches and expertise to improve care for children worldwide. We are incredibly proud to count Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice as a key partner in our mission to ensure every child receives the support they need to live their lives to the fullest.’
Our success hasn’t gone unnoticed in the wider sector, in 2019 we were named Charity of the Year at the Charity Today Awards and were shortlisted for Third Sector’s Frontline Team of the Year in 2021. In 2022 we won the illustrious Campaign Brand Leadership and Partnership award for our Nurse Recruitment campaign and 2023 we scooped Third Sector’s prestigious award for Best Charity Film for our autumn fundraising campaign film ‘From That Moment’ that featured the celebrated photographer, Rankin, and in 2024 we were delighted to be named Starlight’s Play Team of the Year.
So, where do we go from here? Our CEO Sophie Andrews OBE says:
‘There are almost too many highlights in the last five years of The Ark. When I joined in January 2020, The Ark had been open for five months and was to open in Summer 2020. Then in March 2020, Covid came, so to prevent children dying without the people they love, we opened early. The first child through the door came with his parents, grandparents, seven siblings and the family dog! It was a very testing time but the people that make up Noah’s Ark showed the tenacity, strength and kindness that I now realise embodies the spirit of this very special place. A lot has happened, but the biggest since we opened the doors is achieving a CQC Outstanding rating in 2023 which only 3% of providers have. We’ve seen the most spectacular events, from The Winter Ball to our inaugural Glitz and Giving, opened our second holiday lodge for families and welcomed international groups looking to learn from our work. We’ve won multiple awards from Best Charity Film to Unsung Hero at the prestigious Third Sector Awards. We’ve strengthened the bonds with our impressive corporate partners such as the Dorchester and Tottenham Hotspur and bolstered our staff and volunteer offering. We have a bright future, one that we deserve, but we’ll always remain an organization with children and families at its heart and among them are the 165 babies, children and young people that have died in our care, their memory will be the impetus that drives us into the next five years and beyond.’
We’ll leave the most important voice till last. Rose, the grandmother of Sophie, has brought us full circle. She and her granddaughter Sophie are still very much part of The Ark and Rose spoke at our recent 5th Birthday event where she said:
‘Noah’s Ark support us in so many ways, practically, medically, socially and emotionally. I don’t know what we’d do without them, they’re woven into the fabric of our family.’
Here’s to the next 5 years!