A Night at the Fair Ben and his younger sister, Alice, would always visit the local fair when it came to town, as it did every year in September. The travelling group of attractions, shows and rides would set up in the large ‘Victoria Park’, normally the home of the farmers’ market on Thursdays, and would open it’s gates for 3 days only. Ben and Alice always went on the Friday night with their parents, who gave them extra pocket money especially for the occasion. Ben liked the fastest rides he could find, such as ‘Lightning Rod’, ‘Zoom’s Revenge’ and ‘G-Force’. His sister, however, liked the challenge stands that needed luck and accuracy, such as darts, Hoopla or the coconut shy with the green balls. After they had used most of their money, they would spend the last of it on sweets: Alice would buy Strawberry Laces and Ben would get three colours of candy floss: pink, blue and yellow. If they were lucky, they could get a toy as a souvenir. Last year, they had spinning UFO’s, but this year they hoped to get something totally different: a small robot that could learn tricks…

Question time! How much can you remember from the story? Memories – what are they? Why are they important?

An introduction to Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) CHSW helps families make the most of short and precious lives. They do this by looking after children that have life–limiting conditions. This means that the children may die before reaching adulthood because of an illness that they’ve developed or genetic condition they were born with. When families go to stay at one of their hospices for a short break, CHSW take on the day to day care and provide the medicine needed for these children. This means that families can relax and enjoy special time together without the responsibilities they would normally have as full time carers and instead they can just have fun and make precious, happy memories. They can do things they couldn't at home because CHSW are there to support them in everyway. They help everyone in the child’s family: mums and dads, brothers and sisters. CHSW offer a ‘home from home’ and become part of their lives for many years.

ur Hospices Children’s Hospice South West have three hospices across the South West.

Today we are going to be making memory trees and leaves, like the ones used by the Children’s Hospice South West. This is an example of a memory tree found in the Doves chapel at Little Bridge House. What is a memory tree?

Let’s make our own memory leaves! Now it’s your turn! Let’s make our own memory leaves!

Time to share our work! Now let’s share our leaves! How can we help others to make special memories? What does your leaf look like? What made you design it that way? What was your happiest memory? for learning about Children’s Hospice South West!