Summary
Rays of Sunshine was set up in 2003 to brighten up the lives of seriously ill children across the UK by granting their wishes. Our experienced team of wish coordinators provide a high quality of service supported by a team of volunteers nationwide. We take care of every detail to ensure the family can focus 100% on enjoying the wish. As well as granting wishes our hospital activity programme continues to grow to meet the demand for entertainment and distraction for children receiving long-term treatment. In 2015 we fulfilled 25 hospital ward wishes, and held a further 20 activity events within hospitals. The charity’s work offers a positive distraction and creates eternal memories for the children and their families – and it also provides support to the hospitals and hospices that treat these children.Challenge
There are currently 49,000 children in the UK living with a serious or terminal illness, many of whom will not reach adulthood.
Objectives
To provide distraction from pain and medical treatment, entertainment and excitement at an otherwise challenging time. To help improve positive mental attitude to help children cope better with treatment. To offer the opportunity for children to feel ‘normal’ and take part in activities or experiences their healthy peers take for granted. To create memories for the family to cherish.
Solution
We contact the family within two weeks of their application being received and their wish will be fulfilled in a time frame dictated by the nature of their wish. For example, a wish to receive a new iPad, to keep in touch with friends during time off school, can be fulfilled almost immediately, while a wish to meet a celebrity or go on a family holiday will take considerably more forward planning. In cases where the child has a prognosis of less than three months, we classify the wish as a ‘rush wish’ and ensure that the child’s wish is fulfilled as a matter of priority. The majority of our wishes are referred by consultants and play specialists. Our hospital liaison officers work closely with our referrers to support the wish application process and ensure consultants and play specialists are kept fully informed regarding the services we offer. In 2012 we introduced a hospital ward wish scheme to benefit children during their time in hospital. This has enabled us to extend our reach to support more children and more hospitals. Our wish team keeps in regular communication with applicants at every stage of the wish process.
Results
On average we receive 95 applications for individual wishes each month – a 20% increase on 2014. We measure the success of our service in a variety of ways: in a survey conducted among Rays of Sunshine’s medical referrers, 97% thought that having a wish granted has a positive effect on a child who has a life-threatening or serious illness. We also receive feedback from wish families and medical practitioners on a daily basis, which demonstrates the success of our work.
Learnings
As well as funding start-up costs of various hospital initiatives via our Hospital Ward Wish Scheme, we have engaged and involved our corporate partners to enhance the experiences. Many of these relationships have continued with the hospitals after our partnerships have ended. Domino’s Pizza and All Star Bowling have continued to support many of the hospitals we work with. Our partners Frankie & Benny’s recently hosted a group of 30 retinoblastoma patients from The Royal London’s Eye Club initiative. Frankie & Benny’s has also accommodated children from Teens Unite as an extension of our partnership.
Evaluation
Rays of Sunshine is being supported by a research company called The Happiness Index to officially measure the success of our wishes on an ongoing basis. Implementation began in October 2015 among our individual wish families. After just six weeks of implementation (sample 130) the average score is 9.2/10 for the service received from Rays of Sunshine and the impact of their wish. Questions covered such issues as self-esteem, confidence, hopefulness and how well the wish worked in terms of providing a special time for the family. In January 2016 the charity began implementation of this research among its medical referrers.
