The Queen has spoken of how uplifting children’s hospices can be after playing air hockey with a teenager during a visit to a charity in the South West.
Camilla listened to performances and spoke with care users, families and staff during a visit to Little Bridge House in Fremington, Devon, on Wednesday.
The unit – part of Children’s Hospice South West – is celebrating its 30th anniversary of providing care for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and also helps support their families.
During her second visit to Little Bridge, the Queen spoke of the importance of children’s hospices, saying more are needed around the country.
Her speech followed a game of air hockey with Daisy Clark, 15, a bereaved sibling.
The Queen immediately won a point from her opponent and played a second short rally, which ended in a draw.
Addressing staff, she said: “These children’s hospices are such wonderful places.
“I don’t think we realise quite how lucky we are to have them. I think it would be wonderful if we could have a few more.
“Everyone who works in them and makes them such happy places deserve a huge, huge thank you.”
She said on her first visit to a children’s hospice she thought they would be sad places, “but they are completely uplifting”.
Camilla also praised the work of the charity’s co-founder Eddie Farwell, who died earlier this year, and the Queen unveiled a commemorative photograph of him and his family.
Mr Farwell opened Little Bridge House with his wife Jill in 1995 after they experienced the urgent need for hospice care for children in the South West.
Their two eldest children, Tom and Katie, had life-limiting conditions, and the family had to travel more than four hours to Oxford for support.
They went on to set up two other children’s hospices in Cornwall and Bristol.
During her visit, the Queen heard a performance by Vanessa Klos, 18, a bereaved sibling who wrote a song in memory of her brother Jordan.
Speaking to the press, Ms Klos said: “It’s a song I have written called You Are the Reason.
“I wrote it for my little brother, who sadly passed away in December 2023.
“It’s a song that allows me to express my emotions, and it’s helped me grieve with his passing.
“It was an absolute pleasure (to sing for the Queen), I’m just so happy that I even got invited to do such a thing.
“I was holding tears back thinking about my little brother.”
She added that the Queen told her the song was beautiful, and Jordan would be proud of her.
Lizzy Farwell, daughter of Eddie and Jill, who remains an ambassador for the charity, described the visit as “really moving”.
She said: “It’s incredibly special to have the Queen here.
“To come here and celebrate 30 years of the Children’s Hospice South West was really an honour.
“When my dad passed away, she wrote to me to send her condolences. It was very special for her to take that time.”
She added that the photograph unveiled by the Queen was special to her as it was one of the few pictures of her, her parents and her two siblings.
Phil Morris, chief executive of the charity, added that the visit “meant the world” to the families who use the service and the staff.
“She gave us such encouragement to carry on, she said there should be more children’s hospices in the UK and around the world, which really shows her compassion,” he said.
