Finalist category: Accessibility Award 2011
Accessibility Award, Winner, Winner of Winners, 2011
Lifelites is a UK-based children’s technology charity that provides a package of fun and educational technology to every one of the 49 children’s hospices in the UK and Ireland. The Lifelites package gives children the chance to take control of something for themselves, spend quality time with their families and keep in contact with their school and friends. This is a vital opportunity to enjoy themselves away from the constant reality of their illness.
It’s easy to assume that every young person is a whiz on the latest technology and can get their hands on the latest gadgetry whenever they want. But there are many children with life limiting illnesses who find themselves in a hospice and may not have laptops or Internet access or games. They feel scared, are isolated from friends and family and are often desperate to use their computers to keep in touch with their social networks.
As well as accessing social networks children can maintain contact with their school, carry out work assignments and do all the other things that every child loves such as playing games and looking up celebrities. In several hospices the staff have developed their own skills to add extra activities, one of the most popular being the video-making classes at Richards House in East London, which rolls out the red carpet for its very own Oscar Ceremony every year.
