Staff, families and volunteers at Cornwall's children's hospice have been celebrating the fifth anniversary of the charity welcoming families to stay at the facility.

Little Harbour children’s hospice in St Austell, which is run by Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW), was the final piece in the jigsaw of the charity which had previously opened two other children’s hospices in the South West - Little Bridge House in Barnstaple in 1995 and Charlton Farm in Bristol in 2007.

One of the dreams of Eddie Farwell and his late wife Jill, who set up the charity, was that no child in the South West would have to travel for more than 90 minutes to reach a children’s hospice. The dream became a reality when Little Harbour opened to families in January 2012 following the Precious Lives Appeal to raise £5million to build the hospice.

Little Harbour is currently caring for over 90 life limited children from Cornwall and Plymouth, more than 140 siblings and over 20 bereaved families.

Eddie, co-founder and chief executive of CHSW, said: “The support of the local community to not only raise the funds to build Little Harbour five years ago but also to help us maintain running the hospice is overwhelming. There are so many families from Cornwall and Plymouth that need our service that we are so grateful to everyone who offers us their support.”

Families can have the support of the multi-disciplinary care team at Little Harbour from the diagnosis of their child right through to the end of their life and for years ahead. Little Harbour provides a sanctuary for families where they can have short breaks, respite, palliative care, end of life care and bereavement support. But most of all they can enjoy time together as a family making precious memories that they will treasure forever.

Keeley Reed, mum of Freya Tregear who has been using Little Harbour since it opened, said: “Freya loves it here, she gets excited as soon as we turn off the main road. And for me it’s like a second home. The support we get from Little Harbour is absolutely fantastic and I really don’t know what we’d do without them.”

If you would like to help Little Harbour continue supporting local children and families visit chsw.org.uk for fundraising ideas or call 01726 871800 to speak to the fundraising team.