Dear Colleague,

Help the Hospices and the Association of Children's Hospice held a workshop, the first of its kind, in March this year to look at issues around children's hospice and palliative care worldwide. The purpose of the workshop this year on international children's issues was to facilitate shared learning and understanding on the possibilities for international collaboration on children's issues, and to identify a tangible plan of action. The workshop was inspired by the seminar convened by Help the Hospices, of National Hospice and Palliative Care Associations in The Hague in April 2003, which highlighted issues relevant to children's hospices and services worldwide.

Please see the report of the workshop: Every Child Is My Child

Help the Hospices in partnership with the Association of Children's Hospices (ACH) and the Association for Children with Life- Threatening or Terminal Conditions (ACT) have been taking forward work on the action points proposed at the workshop, and Barbara Gelb (CEO of ACH) and myself will be presenting on the programme of work at the Children's Hospice International 16th World Congress in Edinburgh, in September 2004.

We would be interested to hear from National Hospice and Palliative Care Associations on the following areas:

• Do you have children's hospices and palliative care services amongst your membership? Would these children's hospices and palliative care services be interested in 'twinning'/ 'linking up' with children's hospices and services in the UK etc? We are working to produce a Global Directory of Children's Hospice and Palliative Care Services, and a 'vignette compilation' of hospices and services globally.
• Is there a section/ department within your national association specifically committed to dealing with children's hospice and palliative care issue, and undertaking work in these aspects?
  • If yes, we would be interested to learn more about your work, priorities, what are the main issues for you, etc?
  • If no, is this something your organisation is looking into, or would be interested in engaging with others, with a view to future work, etc?
• Would your National Association be interested in helping to develop a Global Children's Hospice and Palliative Care resource website (with the aim of facilitating global networking)? Initial thoughts are that this website would promote information exchange through fact sheets, enable access to the latest research, provide modified chat rooms and focus groups, e-learning modules, enable the sharing of best practice, standards, policies, etc.

We look forward to hearing from you.

With best wishes,

Jennie

Jennie McDowall
Major Projects Support Officer
Help the Hospices
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7520 8220
Fax: +44 (0)20 7278 1021
e-mail: j.mcdowall@helpthehospices.org.uk