The couple are paying for 300 drama therapy sessions for children at the hospice through the foundation they set up after their daughter Ella-Jayne died from a congenital heart defect in 2009 when she was just eight months old.
They toured the hospice in High Barnet to learn more about the charity and children’s palliative care.
“It is vital that there is help at hand for these families in their darkest hours,” Sarah said.
“We witnessed first-hand the unmet need for emotional and psychological support for children and their families when our darling little Ella-Jayne was in Intensive Care for four months.
“It can have devastating long-term consequences if the trauma of a seriously ill child isn’t properly processed with professional help.”
The 56-year-old star of Pillars of the Earth and Peak Practice set up the trust with her husband in 2014, which so far has directed £4 million to projects like drama therapy for sick children and their siblings.
The couple met Christina and Jack Lucas-Dodsworth from Northwood and their two boys, toddler Arthur and nine-year-old Joseph.
Arthur was in intensive care soon after birth with severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy — and was unlikely to survive coming off his ventilator.
But his condition turned for the better and doctors reversed his ‘do-not-resuscitate’ order.
The family was then referred to Noah’s Ark, where Arthur now takes part in the drama and music group while older brother Joseph has had drama therapy to address some of the issues that siblings often face.
Their mum said: “It was difficult telling Joseph his little brother might not be here that long.
“He knew where the conversation was heading. Now he’s much more comfortable talking about these things after drama therapy which is good at tackling the prospect of loss.”
Noah’s Ark drama and movement therapist Pasha Wild uses play and movement to address the children’s specific needs and issues.
She explained: “Drama therapy is a rehearsal space for life, a place where they can get things wrong, where they can struggle, practice their lines if they want to and rehearse difficult situations. It is a place where a child can step outside their life.”
Sarah and James were told of the challenges that the children’s palliative care sector is facing with uncertainty over the Children’s Hospice grant and steep rise in National Insurance. Only 17% of the hospice revenue comes from the grant, the rest through voluntary donations, to meet current running costs of £18,000 every day.
The hospice takes referrals from the London boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington as well as Hertsmere in Hertfordshire.
Noah’s Ark helps sick youngsters to make the most of every day, to enjoy life as children rather than just patients and as families rather than carers.
