'Proud' Acorns Children's Hospice given Unicef award

The charity has strong links with Aston Villa and former player Jack Grealish has long been a supporter of the hospice

A children's hospice has been given a prestigious Unicef award for it work protecting children's rights.

Acorns Children's Hospice, which provides palliative care, said it was the first hospice in the UK to win the Unicef UK Silver Award.

The West Midlands charity began working with the organisation in 2019 and the accolade follows on from a Bronze award in 2020.

Director Emma Aspinall said everyone was "thrilled and incredibly proud".

The award recognises the charity's commitment to ensuring the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child is at the heart of its policies and practice, she said.

'Clear vision'

"Children and families have always been at the centre of everything we do at Acorns, so we are both thrilled and incredibly proud to become the first hospice in the UK to receive recognition from such an esteemed organisation at this level," she said.

Unicef assessors said they saw "clear communication and a shared vision for children's rights to underpin everything Acorns does".

Acorns, which has strong link with Aston Villa football club, has three hospices in Birmingham, Walsall and Worcester.

Last month former Villa captain Jack Grealish arranged for tickets to be offered to children when Manchester City play his old club.

In the past year, the charity said it had cared for more than 700 children and almost 1,000 families at a cost of £27,000 a day.