Strictly star hails wonderful hospital charity

Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke said the work of a hospital-based charity was "wonderful" on its 25th anniversary.

He was at an event on Thursday celebrating Acorn House, which provides families with a free place to stay when their child is sick at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital.

The ballroom icon "immediately said yes" when asked to become an ambassador in 2023, and has raised more than £250,000 for it since.

He told the BBC: "The charity is so wonderful and does such an incredible thing for the parents."

The venue, based in the hospital grounds, has 15 bedrooms, a communal kitchen, laundry rooms and direct telephone lines to hospital wards.

More than 10,000 families have used its services, run by The Sick Children's Trust, since 2001.

"It makes me emotional the moment I even mention having a sick child," Du Beke said.

"This is incredible because you just stay here until you don't need to stay here any longer.

"And there's no cost. Think about the weight that lifts from the parents, [it's] an extraordinary thing to do."

Parents Fran and Jack were signposted to Acorn House after their son, Milo, went into intensive care aged seven weeks.

"It's indescribable, it's a complete lifeline for parents," Fran said.

"If it wasn't here, we'd either have to be separated or be exhausted on the hospital floor, possibly even have to cover the expensive accommodation nearby."

The cost of running Acorn House works out at about £40 a night per family.

They are free to use the laundry services and have the benefit of staff on-hand to give emotional support.

"Families find themselves in the toughest of times, the darkest of hours, terrified, frightened for their child," said chief executive Jane Featherstone.

"They could be a long way from home and they want to be with their child, but they also need a space they can relax."

Featherstone added she was "incredibly proud" of the service and vowed to keep fundraising for it.

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