LauraLynn House

Making the most of short & precious lives..

The Children’s Sunshine Home in Dublin has been caring for chronically ill children and their families since the 1920’s. Last September we opened Ireland’s first children’s Hospice LauraLynn House on our grounds in Leopardstown. It is so difficult to even contemplate that this is necessary but tragically there are an estimated 1,500 children living in Ireland with life limiting conditions.

LauraLynn House is now fully open with all eight beds occupied and most of the family rooms being used by newly referred families and those families whose children are critically ill requiring palliative care. It is a warm supportive environment for the whole family to relax and spend precious time with their children, including siblings, with a team who know and understand their individual needs.

Currently all of the children who are involved with us have multiple out-patient appointments in the acute children’s hospitals. We are currently looking after some families who are travelling from Kerry & Cork to make appointments in Dublin.Since opening in September we have served 82 families in LauraLynn House and also provided a limited community home support programme to a small number of these children. Very sadly, five children have already passed away in our Butterfly suite – a special place where a child can spend their final days in comfort and peace with their family.

Going forward we hope to look after up to 300 families a year through our respite support and providing a team of multidisciplinary carers to provide home care to families in need.

LauraLynn House is truly a wonderful place full of love and laughter. It provides a ‘home away from home’ for very sick children with family accommodation, 2 playgrounds and a music room.

Unfortunately to date we have received no government funding to build or run this wonderful place. Therefore, we need to raise substantial funds (€1.5m) to run it annually in addition to buying essential equipment to complete the fit out & ensure its long term viability. Any donations made go directly towards funding LauraLynn House and as we don’t spend money on advertising and very little on marketing, any admin costs are kept to an absolute minimum. Any donation or support, no matter how small can make a real difference to the lives of very sick children.

To find out more visit our website at www.sunshinehome.ie or call us at 01 2893151.

“Putting life into a Child’s day not days into a child’s life”