A HOSPICE caring for seriously ill children and their families has become the first hospice in Britain to receive international recognition from UNICEF.

Acorns Hospice, which has sites in Worcester, Birmingham and Walsall, has been recognised for its work protecting children's human rights.

The UNICEF award marks the hospice's commitment to making sure children in their care have a right to dignity, privacy, to rest and play and to healthy food among other things.

Acorns began its partnership with UNICEF UK in 2019 and became the first non-school organisation to join its 'Rights Respecting Award' programme, receiving the bronze accolade in 2020.

Work to secure Silver was temporarily placed on hold during Covid-19 as the charity quickly adapted its services to support some of the most vulnerable children and families in the community impacted by the pandemic.

Since then, the charity’s three hospices have now won the Silver accolade.

In their review, UNICEF assessors remarked how "there is clear communication and a shared vision for children’s rights to underpin everything Acorns does."

The report outlined how "empowering children to have a voice is central to the support that Acorns provides", while at the same time staff are "sensitive to the needs and views of parents."

It also recognised how ‘staff empower children to make choices about everyday life’ and how an organisational charter created jointly by hospice teams and children ‘clearly identifies how children and adults will respect’ key rights.

Emma Aspinall, director of care at Acorns, said: “Children and families have always been at the centre of everything we do at Acorns, so we are both thrilled and incredibly proud to become the first hospice in the UK to receive recognition from such an esteemed organisation at this level.

“It is our aim for all Acorns care teams and care volunteers to understand the Convention for the Rights of the Child, and that Acorns services and responses to our young people is synonymous with these rights.

“This report recognises the hard work and incredible efforts of everyone at Acorns to ensure that we are ambassadors for Children’s Rights in all we do.

“We are excited to continue our Rights Respecting journey and already have a clear roadmap in place to help us to continue to build on our high-quality services and excellent practice and strive for Gold.”