MY friends have told me they find it hard to understand how I can work at a place like Acorns Children’s Hospice.

As I’ve said in a previous edition of this column, there are obviously sad times but my role will always be to provide specialist nursing and support to the family to the best of my ability.

Although there is a change in mood at the hospice when a child dies, we continue to strive to provide a comfortable, home-from-home setting and an environment in which parents are reassured they and their child are receiving the best possible care.

Acorns is the only organisation that can provide this level of holistic care, supporting parents, siblings and the wider family both pre and post bereavement.

As part of that, we bring families together at a biannual Memorial Day at the hospice. Held recently, many parents joined us to celebrate the lives of their loved ones. It’s a poignant occasion that gives families a chance to be together in remembrance.

We are also encouraging many of our families and their friends to join us for the forthcoming Acorns Lantern Walk.

The fundraising event takes place at Worcester Racecourse on November 14 and will see hundreds of people carrying shining orange lanterns in support of our work.

Many people taking part will have a direct connection to the hospice but we hope the event, in Worcester for the first time, will give everyone in the community chance to support us.

Most of our work is funded by events like the Lantern Walk and money raised through sponsorship enables nurses like me to carry on providing specialist one-to-one care that our children and their families rely on.

CLARE BURDEN Specialist children's nurse