Shop Direct targets £400,000 fund raise for children’s hospice

ONLINE retailer Shop Direct has set a target to raise £400,000 for the Claire House Children’s Hospice which is developing plans to convert an old monastery in Liverpool to support hundreds of terminally ill children in the North West.

Claire House was unveiled as the company’s new charity partner at a dinner at the etailer’s Liverpool headquarters last night (Tuesday November 8).

Shop Direct will raise the money over the next 12 months through colleague activities and events, as well as providing industry-leading knowledge to help Claire House begin the development of a world class digital hospice in West Derby, Liverpool.

The new site will support the charity’s existing Wirral hospice, which currently helps more than200 children and their families each year.

It is by far the charity’s biggest corporate partnership to date and will help Claire House put in place futureproof digital infrastructure like cabling, wi-fi and server technology at the new site, as well as modernise paper-based systems to enable its teams to deliver a more personalised service while caring for children in their own homes, as well as at the new site.

The team at Shop Direct will also help to fund and design an interactive multi-media suite for use by the children and families who visit the centre, and will include cutting-edge technology and innovative sensory treatments.

David Pastor, chief executive at Claire House, said: “We’re hugely excited to be partnering with Shop Direct. The funds they will raise make a massive difference to the seriously and terminally ill children we help.

“As digital innovators, the team at Shop Direct will be able to use their skills to help us design a hospice for the future that will help us reach more families who desperately need our support.”

More than 80% of Shop Direct colleagues across its sites voted for Claire House to be the firm’s new charity for 2016/17, having raised over £210,000 to support the development of a ground-breaking digital app for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in 2015/16.

Alex Baldock, chief executive at Shop Direct – who spoke about the partnership to North West business and digital industry leaders who attended the launch dinner, said: “Claire House’s work has a massive impact on seriously ill children and their families right across the North West and I’m delighted we’ve selected them as our new charity.

“This partnership gives us an opportunity not just to support our communities, but also to deploy our digital expertise to help Claire House build one of the most advanced centres of its kind in the country – leaving a valuable and lasting legacy.

“£400,000 is the biggest charity target we’ve ever set as a business. It’s hugely ambitious, but I know our people will rise to the challenge and I’m confident that together we’ll get there – and make a real difference.”