An Oswestry children;s hospice is appealing for people to make an amazing New Year resolution.

Hope House Children's Hospice and its sister hospice and Ty Gobaith in Conwy are asking people to do one thing each to help local terminally ill children and bereaved families in 2019.

The two hospices, that cover Shropshire, Cheshire, Mid and North Wales, need to raise £6.3 million every year to provide a range of support, including vital respite care to terminally ill local children and their families, and end of life care and bereavement support to families whose child dies.

Fundraising director Simi Epstein said: “We will need to get straight down to raising £17,260 a day to keep our current services funded from the start of the year. “On top of that we need to double our income by 2025 so that we can help every child and family who need us in this area and achieve our ambition that no one suffers the death of a child alone.”

Currently two per cent of the local population help the hospices in many different ways, from making donations to playing the Lottery, and from taking part in events to signing up to regular giving.

Only because of their help can Hope House and Ty Gobaith continue to provide vital support to hundreds of children and families.

But the hospices need to find even more supporters among the 98 per cent of people who don’t currently support their cause, so that they can raise the additional money they need to reach every local child and family who needs help.

Simi added that she realises January is a time when many people feel their own financial pressures after Christmas, but there are ways to commit to Hope House and Ty Gobaith without making a financial donation too.

“We have many events coming up in the spring such as our Valentine's virtual sponsored run or walk in February, and our Llangollen Canal Walk in March.

"Both are free to enter and you have time to raise sponsorship money, and there are other ways to get involved such as arranging a coffee morning by registering for our Eat Cake fundraiser,” she explained.

“For people who feel able to make a small monthly gift we would love them to sign up for our Regular Giving, which starts at just £3 a month. That is an incredible thing to do because it enables us to plan for the future and ensure we have the services that children and families so desperately need in place.”

Details of event sign ups and Regular Giving can been found on the charity’s website www.hopehouse.org.uk or by calling the fundraising offices: Shropshire on 01691 671671; North Wales on 01492 598581; or Cheshire on 01244 340759.