Our history

Helen House opened its doors in 1982 as the world’s first children’s hospice.

Set in peaceful grounds just 20 minutes’ walk from Oxford city centre, it’s a welcoming place where families can feel cocooned from the strain of 24/7 care of their very ill child.

Tish was on the Helen House team for 11 years from 1983 - 1994. She ran and lept 4 foot in the air quite often, played football, sat at the table and snuggled up in bed when she got the chance.

The bereavement support team is created.

The world's second Children's hospice, Martin House, opened in North Yorkshire with staff trained by the Helen House team.

First children's hospice, outside of the UK, opened in Canada based on the Helen House model.

Our first siblings' support activity took place to support borthers and sister of Helen House children.

Our first shop opened in Oxford's Covered Market. Following this, over 30 shops were opened across Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties.

Douglas House opened its doors in 2004 and cared for young adults aged 16 to 35. Officially opened by the late Queen, it was the world’s first specialist hospice exclusively for young adults and bridged the gap between a children’s and adults’ hospice.

It was named after a Helen House patient named Douglas. Sadly, Douglas died before he could see what the hospice was like, but his legacy lives on in our name.

Douglas House closed on 21 June 2018 due to a shortfall in funding but Helen House remains open to care for terminally ill babies, children and young people aged 0-18.

The former Duchess of Cornwall became patron of Helen & Douglas House.

In 2007 families were invited to decorate the Christmas Tree at Clarence House for the first time.

BBC2 broadcasts 'The Children of Helen House' documentary.

In 2009 they broadcast 'The Children of Helen House Revisited'. This raised the profile of the charity and dispelled popular misconceptions about hospices.

Volunteering team created. Since then we have had over 1,000 wonderful volunteers help us, worth over £1m to the charity.

Outreach nursing team created to support families at home.

Introduction of home and care team volunteering programme.

Helen & Douglas House was given the Queen's Award for Volunteering to acknowledge the amazing contribution its volunteers make to the charity

Helen House was reopened by actor Tom Hollander after a major £1.5m refurbishment to make existing spaces in the hospice lighter, brighter and larger by reconfiguring the interior.

Specialist play team created.

In 2016 we created a beach in the garden of Helen House. There were pony rides, wave noises, sand, paddling pools and an ice cream van.

Youth and transition worker role created to support transition planning to adult care.

Outreach support increased due to COVID pandemic.

We supported our families at home by sending hampers to them which included items for the children to play with and some essential household and food products, most of which was donated by local businesses. These were kindly packed by some of our amazing volunteers like Hilary and Paul.

First cohort of nursing associates working at the hospice qualified.

A new garden was completed in the summer creating a wonderful outside space for families to spend special moments in. This was made possible by an army of local businesses and community volunteers, coordinated by Darren Field, who came together to create something very special for local terminally ill children.

Her Majesty The Queen came to see the garden and meet some of the children and families.