Our Inspiration

Beautiful angels, sisters Amy and Molly!

Amy's House was set up by my Mum and Dad,  Maurice and Meriel Littlewood in 2003. Their youngest granddaughter Molly was born with severe special needs and they saw first hand the difficulties faced by me, their daughter Jayne when caring for Molly. There were no local respite facilities or out of school clubs and I felt isolated, out of touch, not to mention shattered, like so many other parents of children with special needs.

Sadly, in 1999 my older daughter Amy passed away after contracting Meningococal Scepticemia (Meningitis B). After this devastating event, we as a  family decided to set up a charity in Amy's memory. We wanted to help provide children and young people like her sister Molly with somewhere to play and engage with other children away from school. Also, to give the parents a chance to meet other families and to have some respite on a Saturday. And so the Amy's House story began.

In 2011 the family were, again, completely devastated when Molly passed away. After this massive blow,  we wanted to include Molly's memory in the Amy's House story, so we set up Molly's Mates, a project for older children/teenagers. Here they can practise life skills training and do the stuff that teenagers do like going to the cinema, bowling, eating out, but in a safe, stimulating environment and with support. Molly's Mates is a curriculum based project and we hope to be running that very shortly.

Our dedicated staff and volunteer directors are totally focused on helping the children and families who attend Amy's House. Our main aim is to provide JOY!

For more information about supporting Amy's House, or if you’d like any further information about the indispensible work we do, please contact our our office on 0114 2422294 or send an email to: enquiries@amyshouse.org.uk

Finally, as Amy and Molly's Mum, I am so proud that something so devastating to us as a family has resulted in my girls memories living on and the name Amy's House meaning love, joy and care to so many families.

I love meeting the families and seeing that we are doing something so worthwhile, knowing how they feel, and I know Amy and Molly would love their names been up in lights on the front of the building!

Jayne Hurditch
(Amy and Molly's mum!)