News
TRH attend a concert celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Helen & Douglas House
19th March 2008
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall attended a concert to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the world’s first children’s hospice at St John’s Smith Square, London this evening.
The Prince and The Duchess met the founder of Helen House, Sister Frances Dominica, who established the hospice in 1982 after becoming friends with the parents of a seriously ill girl called Helen.
In 2004 Douglas House opened to provide help for those children as they became young adults, and The Duchess of Cornwall is now Patron of Helen & Douglas House in Oxford.
The Duchess visited Helen & Douglas House in June last year and saw first-hand the work they do to support youngsters and their families. Click here to read about the visit.
Children can stay at Helen House and young adults can stay at Douglas House, along with their families, for short periods of time for rest and recuperation, treatment of distressing symptoms, end of life care and support.
A number of events were held during 2007 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the hospice, and the concert at St John’s was the final occasion in the anniversary calendar.
Sister Frances said Helen House was still about friendship and practical help.
“In our culture it seems that it is important to have a solution to every problem, or at least a reason for why things go wrong.
“Somehow life-shortening conditions in young people don’t usually fit into either of those categories and I have to say that 25 years on I have fewer answers to the big questions than I had at the outset.”
Sister Frances thanked the 300-strong audience for attending the event.
She said, “Many of our young people have difficulty in communication but music surely is the universal language and so many of them respond to music.”
The concert featured the London premiere of the concerto by Nigel Hess commissioned by The Prince of Wales in memory of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
The composition is split into three movements which aim to reflect key traits of The Queen Mother’s personality, and is the second piece of music which His Royal Highness has commissioned in memory of his grandmother.
The first was a cello concerto by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett which was performed in front of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall by the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London on 9th March 2006.
As well as being Patron of the hospice, The Duchess of Cornwall is also Patron of the London Chamber Orchestra who performed the anniversary concert and of St Johns’s Smith Square where it was held. Click here to read more about The Duchess’s patronages.