In the first of two visit's to the region, His Royal Highness, the Duke of Cambridge paid a special visit to Acorns Children’s Hospice in Birmingham, to see first-hand the charity’s vital work.

The Duke was led on a tour of the hospice’s specialist facilities and given an insight into the charity’s work by Acorns Young Ambassadors, Assya Shabir and Bradley Addison. 

His Royal Highness met families using the hospice multisensory room and taking part in a hydrotherapy session with a Physiotherapist before meeting children and families enjoying a stay-and-play session in the hospice lounge. 

During the visit, the Duke was also reacquainted with fellow Aston Villa FC fan and Acorns Ambassador Moin Younis following the pair’s recent introduction at the Pride of Britain Awards last year.

Commenting on the visit, Acorns Chief Executive, Toby Porter, said: “It was a day none of us will ever forget at Acorns. It was quite magical for us to see the pleasure it gave the children and the families to meet the Duke at the Birmingham hospice opened by his mother 30 years ago. What a fantastic 30^th anniversary present for everyone at Acorns. 

“We are proud and grateful to our two Acorns Young Ambassadors Assya and Bradley, for doing such a wonderful job leading the tour. We are confident HRH will have left with a proper insight into the care delivered by our incredible staff and volunteers, and we hope he enjoyed his visit. 

“We talk about the importance of making special memories for the children and families who come to Acorns – never more so than today.

Following the tour of the hospice, the Duke met a group of Acorns Patrons, staff and supporters before unveiling a plaque to commemorate the visit. The plaque will be placed in position next to an existing plaque at the hospice, installed to mark the hospice’s official opening by Princess Diana in 1988.

Toby added: “This visit will be the absolute highlight of Acorns 30^th anniversary year. We now look forward to the next 30 years and with the continued support of the community, our incredible volunteers and generous donors, ensure we’ll always be there for the children and families who need us.” 

In the past year, Acorns has provided care for more than 870 children and over 1,000 families, making it the UK’s largest children’s hospice charity. 

It costs Acorns nearly £10 million every year to provide its care and it relies on the public for the majority of this amount.