Acorns Children’s Hospice has hit the road in striking style as part of an exciting project to celebrate its 30th birthday.
The Charity’s unmissable bright-orange 80s themed caravan has been touring the Midlands collecting childhood memories from local people, and today (12 September) it paid a visit to Birmingham New Street to hear what Brummies had to say.
Sarah Bowron, Acorns 30th Anniversary Campaign Manager, said: “It was fantastic to be in Birmingham today and so much fun to hear local people share their favourite childhood memories.
“We heard lots of mentions of TV programmes like Grange Hill, bands like Blur and Oasis, and films like Harry Potter, all key cultural touchstones since Acorns came into existence in 1988!”
The Caravan is part of the Acorns Story Box Project, a Heritage Lottery Funded project which aims to preserve the history of Acorns through a series of oral history interviews with key individuals from the past 30 years.
Sarah added: “Thanks to this grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we have been given the opportunity to preserve our fascinating history for future generations. The Caravan is a great way to engage people with our anniversary and it was fabulous so many local people got involved.”
As well as featuring some of the best stories from today’s visit on its website, Acorns will also feature a selection in a special commemorative exhibition at the beginning of next year, alongside groundbreaking moments from the charity’s past.
Acorns provides a network of specialist care to children with life threatening and life limiting conditions, both within its three hospices, based in Birmingham, the Black Country and The Three Counties, and in family homes.
It costs the charity nearly £10 million every year to provide its services and it relies on fundraising for the bulk of this amount.
2018 marks 30 years since Princess Diana officially opened the first Acorns Hospice in Selly Oak, Birmingham.
To find out more about Acorns Story Box, please visit www.acorns.org.uk/StoryBox.
