As the Children's Hospice South West (CHSW) celebrates its 25th anniversary, Viv Lavan is still one of the charity's biggest supporters who will always be indebted to the care and support her family received when they needed it the most.

Viv and Tony Lavan's son, Jamie, had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and was one of the first youngsters admitted to the charity's first hospice, Little Bridge House in Devon, on its opening day in 1995.

The family had met CHSW's founders, Jill and Eddie Farwell, at a hospice in Oxford in the 1980s and supported their efforts to establish the charity and build their first children's hospice in the region from the outset.

Jamie enjoyed many stays at Little Bridge House before he sadly died on October 16, 1999, aged just 19. As Viv, who also lost her husband in 2007, commemorates the 17th anniversary of Jamie's death, she is keen to encourage as many people as possible to support CHSW and the invaluable work it does.

"The hospice staff were amazing," said Viv, who used to live in Budock, but is now living in Penryn. "They made the unbearable, tolerable. The hospice is something that gets you through, it makes such a difference to the families.

"You get smiles through all the heartbreak. The people know where you are coming from and they are not patronising. They give friendship and get to know the families, warts and all, and nobody is ever judgemental."

That support does not end when the child passes on. "They do not just cut you off when the child dies, you are still part of the family, as much as you want to be," said Viv. "They helped me with Jamie's funeral and supported me through that. Then afterwards, Jill got me working in the (charity's) office in Truro as a volunteer. That was useful for the hospice, but also more than useful for me - it gave me a reason to do something and something that I cared passionately about."

All these years on and Viv still volunteers for CHSW, which opened Little Harbour hospice in St Austell in 2011. She hands out T-shirts at the Moonlight Memory Walk in Falmouth, where she meets the same people year after year, and also uses her calligraphy skills to update the charity's memory book.

"That shakes me sometimes because it's local people that you often know," she said. "Looking at the names in the memory book is like looking at a map of Cornwall."

Viv is determined to maintain her links with CHSW and encourages anyone who can offer the charity any kind of support to do so. "They are like family to me," she said. "It's a friendship like no other really."

Viv attended CHSW's 25th anniversary Service of Thanksgiving at Exeter Cathedral in July, which was also attended by the charity's royal patron, the Duchess of Cornwall. She will also be at CHSW's first Cornish service of remembrance to be held in Charlestown next weekend, October 23.

Anyone who would like to support the hospices in any way should go to chsw.org.uk to learn how you can help.