Harry's Pals, the emotional support charity helping the families of sick or disabled children

When dealing with a new diagnosis or ongoing challenges brought about by your child’s condition, it can take a huge emotional toll on yourself, your family dynamics, and the people around you. Tree of Hope are here to be a listening ear, but sometimes it’s also important to seek professional advice from those who can help to navigate the struggles and burdens that you may be feeling.

Who are Harry's Pals?
The Tree of Hope Family support team recently met with Hayley Charlesworth from Harry’s Pals, a charity which offers emotional support to families who have a child who is severely ill or disabled. From experience, Hayley witnessed the lack of emotional support available to families given the earth-shattering news that their child is severely ill or disabled, and decided to take matters into her own hands, launching Harry’s Pals as a nationwide charity in 2022.

How does it work?

Harry’s Pals is a nationwide charity and works to connect you and your family with a suitable counsellor or psychologist in your area. Referrals for emotional support and counselling through Harry’s Pals are made through hospices, hospitals or other charities (like us), and can be made for a diagnosis within the past 5 years. Families who would like support should visit the Harry’s Pals website, and, providing they meet the criteria for support, they should complete an online application form. Hayley or a member of the team will then be in touch to discuss what type of support would be best suited to the family’s needs and a referral will be made to a counsellor or therapist.

Following your discussion with Hayley at Harry’s Pals, you will be referred to your hand-picked therapist for a suggested term of 6 sessions. Part of the unique service offered by Harry’s Pals is the closely picked selection of counsellors/therapists; it’s important for therapists to understand the emotional needs of parents with a severely ill or disabled child, so Hayley ensures that counsellors are chosen based on their lived experiences and background in dealing with the complexities that this brings, so that each parent can feel listened to and understood.

Throughout the process, Harry’s Pals stay in touch with the parents to ensure that they are getting the right support for them, and to help with any problems faced throughout the process.

How long is the referral process?
It’s important to Harry’s Pals that families are swiftly given the support they need, so the referral process takes around 2 weeks.

How do I find out more?
You can visit Harry’s Pals website by visiting https://harryspals.co.uk/
If you would like to discuss the possibility of being referred to Harry’s Pals for counselling services, please contact families@treeofhope.org.uk so that we can begin the initial discussions and referral process