LauraLynn Ireland's Children's Hospice

LauraLynn is Ireland’s only Children’s Hospice, providing specialist palliative care to children with life limiting conditions and offering support to their families. Formally known as the Children's Sunshine Home, LauraLynn began as far back as 1925 when Dr Ella Webb, a pioneering Dublin paediatrician of her time, treated many cases of children with rickets.

The LauraLynn Children’s Hospice Foundation was established in 2001 by Jane and Brendan McKenna after their two daughters, Laura, 4, and Lynn, 13, died within two years of each other. Their personal tragedy inspired these amazing parents to establish this foundation. The McKennas had personal experience of the lack of respite or specialist care for children with life-limiting conditions and hoped to build a hospice in their daughters’ honour. Their mission is to provide a Community of Care that delivers evidence-based, personalised services to children with palliative care needs, complex care needs and complex disabilities, while also providing family support services and a home to residents where quality-of-life is paramount. 

This service is free to families and is available to children from 0-18 years within the Republic of Ireland. Some children can live a long time with a life-limiting condition, while for others their palliative care journey is very short, but for all of them, their time with their family is limited. At LauraLynn their aim is to the make the most of that very precious time. They cannot change a child’s diagnosis or put extra days into their lives.

The funding from our players was put towards their LauraLynn@Home service. The care provided is aimed at supporting families along the tough journey of living with a life limiting condition, helping them to sustain their energy, commitment and mental health. The respite care provided for children provides much needed time-out for caregivers who are providing the bulk of care to their child – allowing them get some rest, tend to other children or simply do the weekly shopping. Frequently, parents are exhausted but desperately want to keep going – respite care gives them strength and is an essential element of children’s palliative care.

LauraLynn is an essential service for children and their families at a very precious time, and we're proud to support it.