CLIC Sargent opens new Southampton ‘home from home’ for young cancer patients

CLIC Sargent is delighted to reveal that a new ‘Home from Home’ in Southampton is now open and helping families in desperate need.

Earlier this year, CLIC Sargent launched a fundraising appeal to transform a former Southampton bed and breakfast into a haven for young cancer patients and their families.

The new ‘Home from Home’, called Jean’s House on Anglesea Road in Southampton, will provide vital free accommodation for young patients and their families often miles from home during cancer treatment at nearby specialist Southampton Hospital.

Jean’s House will replace the charity’s existing Home from Home, CLIC Haven, which has supported thousands of families since it opened in the grounds of Southampton Hospital in 1991.

The new ‘bigger and better’ home has seven en-suite family bedrooms (sleeping up to four people), two open plan kitchen/diners, a lounge, dedicated toddler and  teenagers’ spaces, and parking, helping families spend more time together during their child’s cancer treatment and avoid often debilitating travel and accommodation costs.

CLIC Sargent’s UK Home from Home Manager, Cecilia Milburn, said: “As a charity, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated or given their time to help us transform the property into a real lifeline that will help many families for years to come.

One of the families present at the opening, who backed the campaign after staying at CLIC Haven, was that of Ryan Kimber, 19, from Isle of Wight, who was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma a cancerous tumour in January 2016. The home from Home was a vital lifeline for him and his family during many months of treatment far away from home.

Ryan, now in remission and studying at college with a hope to go into further education next year, said: “It’s amazing to see the house all finished and open, it looks brilliant. The previous Home from Home, CLIC Haven, meant so much to me and my family because it meant we could stay together, avoid financial stress and I wasn’t alone.

“We are proud to have been part of the Jean’s House appeal, which is going to help so many families like ours in the future.  We want to thank everyone who has donated and will hopefully continue to support CLIC Sargent.”

To donate to the appeal text “HOME” to 70020 to donate £3.