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Acorns cares for children who are life limited and life threatened – that is unlikely to reach adulthood – and offers support to their families. The Acorns service is available to young people meeting our criteria and living in a defined catchment area which covers the counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and the West Midlands as well as parts of Staffordshire and Shropshire.
Acorns has helped well over 1,500 families in the last 21 years.
Acorns is currently supporting over 500 children and families. An estimated 1,600 families in our catchment area meet our criteria.
Acorns provides short break, emergency and end-of-life care, with a community team to support the family 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
On average, every week one of the children we care for will die.
Acorns has three 10-bed children’s hospices: Acorns in Birmingham (located in Selly Oak), Acorns in the Black Country (located in Walsall) and Acorns for the Three Counties (located in Worcester).
Acorns in Birmingham was the third children’s hospice in the world when it was opened in 1988. We opened our second hospice, Acorns in the Black Country, in 1999 followed by the opening of our third unit, Acorns for the Three Counties, in March 2005.
The hospices are designed to be a home-from-home to help children enjoy their stay and make the most of every day. Games rooms, soft-play areas, gardens and lots of toys help to ensure a happy stay. The hospices have therapeutic facilities such as hydrotherapy pools and multi-sensory rooms. Special adolescent wings ensure privacy for older children.
It currently costs over £6 million a year to support our families. There is no charge to families for using the services provided by Acorns. Acorns relies on the community to fund the majority of its activities.
Acorns also participates in two lotteries; TLC in Birmingham and the South Worcestershire Hospices Lottery in Worcester.
Acorns has over 1,000 volunteers who work in all areas – in the hospices, in fundraising and in our shops.
Acorns has the largest retail chain amongst children’s hospices with 43 shops.
It costs £4,500 per day to run each of the hospices; a daily bed cost of £450. | 
