RAINBOW Trust Children’s Charity’s Southampton Care Team, which supports families with a seriously ill child, officially opened their new office at Calmore Community Centre this month.

Supporters new and old attended the event, including volunteers, local businesses, community centre committee members and councillors Neville Pennman and Dean Britton.

Rainbow Trust was delighted to welcome the Kemish family from Southampton who it has previously supported. McKenzie, now aged nine, celebrated being cancer free for five years last December.

Rainbow Trust enables families who have a child with a life-threatening illness to make the most of their time together. It provides expert practical and emotional support, wherever possible, for as long as needed.

Rainbow Trust pairs each family with an expert family support worker who helps them at home, in hospital and in the community, wherever they are needed.

McKenzie’s mother Amberley said: “We will be eternally grateful to Dawn and the other members of Rainbow Trust who were always there to help us through. Ask for help, it can and does make a huge difference.”

Dawn Pond, family support manger for the Southampton Care Team, said: “We are incredibly grateful to everybody who attended this wonderful event. The Rainbow Trust Care Team, who are currently supporting approximately 100 families in Hampshire, Dorset and the IOW, have been made to feel so welcome by everyone.

“Our new home means we can really become part of the local community. This will help us spread the message to families of a seriously ill child, that Rainbow Trust are here if they want our support. We are also hoping it will encourage people to support us to raise much needed funds, so we can reach out to even more families”.

Rainbow Trust is a national charity providing expert practical and emotional support to families, where they need it, to help them make the most of each new day. It relies almost entirely on voluntary donations and thanks to the generosity of its supporters helps over 2,300 families through its nine care teams in England.