Ian Byrne

I beg to move, That this House has considered funding for children’s hospices. It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. “To me and my family, Zoe’s Place represents one word… family…They gave my confidence to give my angel 10 years of a fantastic life and provided the most outstanding care when she passed away last year.” Those are the words of Abbi, mother of Evie-Kate, who relied on Zoe’s Place, a children’s hospice in my constituency. Abbi said: “Without Zoe’s Place and the support, friends, families and being able to go visit my baby girl’s plaque on her final day…I would be a broken woman.” Another parent, Jennifer, mother of Theo, said Zoe’s Place means that “Theo gets the love and care that he has at home, they have been amazing, I can’t put into words how much we will miss the girls…The pure joy in Theo’s face as we pull up and see the Teddy bear. So yes, to us Zoe’s Place is our family…Zoe’s Place has been a massive support and a lifeline, without Zoe’s Place we wouldn’t have got Theo home from Alder Hey after being there for 12 months.” Those parents are far from alone in finding Zoe’s Place to be an absolute lifeline. If I had more time, I would love to tell hon. Members about countless other families and children supported by Zoe’s Place. But I applied for this debate because earlier this month, we received the shocking news that Zoe’s Place was going to close. Jennifer spoke of her “devastation” on hearing the news, and Abbi said: “Please don’t take this amazing place away.” Zoe’s Place opened in my constituency in 1995 and has supported thousands of children and their family members over the years, providing respite and palliative and end of life care for babies and children up to the age of five. It is one of two wonderful children’s hospices that my constituency is home to and which I am so proud of. The other is Claire House, another place of love and warmth, with the most wonderful staff, who do so much good when families are facing such heartbreak. I see that at first hand when I volunteer at that wonderful place, and I find speaking to the families so enlightening. The absolutely life-changing service offered and given by those places is why we could not accept the news, when it was announced three weeks ago, that spiralling costs meant there was not enough money to build a planned new home for Zoe’s Place.