A HOSPICE which helps children with life-limiting conditions to make the most of every moment, has won a national award.

Derian House Children’s Hospice was named Charity of the Year 2019 at the prestigious JustGiving Awards, held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London last week.

The Chorley-based charity looks after more than 400 children, young people and their families from across the North West, offering respite and end-of-life care.

The hospice beat off competition from more than 50,000 other charities to scoop the top award.

David Robinson, chief executive of Derian House, said: “We are really overwhelmed to have been named Charity of the Year in the JustGiving Awards 2019 – we didn’t expect to win and this national accolade will really help us to reach out to more families and help put Derian House on the map.

“We get very little money from the government and JustGiving is a fundamental part of helping us to raise the cash we need to keep the hospice running.

“The ceremony was inspirational and humbling in equal measures. To hear the wonderful stories of people from across the UK was a real privilege.

“I’d like to thank our fellow nominees, Breast Cancer Haven and My Name’5 Doddie Foundation - both really worthy charities.

“Big thanks to everyone who voted for us. We are thrilled.”

It costs more than £4.3 million to run services at Derian House Children’s Hospice every year.

The charity receives less than 10 per cent of this through statutory funding. For the remainder, it must rely on the generosity of its supporters.

A JustGiving Awards spokesperson said: “We can’t believe that the JustGiving Awards are over for another year!

“It was an incredible evening which celebrated the dedication, generosity and unimaginable feats of fundraisers and charities from across the JustGiving community.

“This year we received the record number of 50,000 public nominations, and after weeks of deliberation we managed to whittle this down to 24 finalists.

“We were honoured to have the opportunity to share each of the finalists’ stories, and we finished the evening feeling inspired, and just a little bit emotional.

“We want to thank everyone who took the time out of their day to nominate and vote for this year’s winners.”

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