Our History

The story of Julia's House, the Dorset Children's Hospice, is a remarkable and moving one.

In 1997 Dorset lost Julia Perks, a talented and dedicated paediatric nurse, to cancer. Julia was the first to highlight the need for facilities and services for children with life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses in the area and she particularly wanted to raise awareness of the need for more respite for the families of these children. Following her sad and premature death, Julia's family, friends and colleagues took up the mantle and set up the Julia Perks Foundation, now known as Julia's House, the Dorset Children's Hospice.

The original intention of this group was to raise money to build a conventional children's hospice, but in order to meet the needs of the children and families more effectively, the charity chose to concentrate its efforts on providing care in the families' own homes first and foremost. This meant that the children and families would receive care and support much sooner than would otherwise be the case. In 2003 Julia's House appointed two children's community nurses to head up this care team and so the work begun.

In March 2006 Julia's House itself was completed and officially opened. It provides daycare for up to ten children at a time and overnight care for three. Great care has been taken to create a warm, welcoming and homely environment where the children can enjoy genuine quality of life.

The community team has now grown to over 50 nurses and carers and at any one time Julia's House is caring for over 50 children across Dorset enabling them to enjoy their time together much more and helping to reduce some of the immense pressures that they face day in and day out.