On Monday 28th August from 6am BBC Breakfast will be broadcasting a special feature focusing on Fair Play for Children's Hospices. This programme aims to highlight the desperate need for sustained, long-term government funding for children's hospice services in England and will feature live and pre-recorded interviews with:

• Neil D Bruce Copp OBE, Chairman of Fair Play for Children's Hospices
• Barbara Gelb, CEO of Association of Children's Hospices
• Dalton Leong, Chief Executive of The Shooting Star House Children's Hospice
• The family of a child being cared for at the hospice
• Peter Ellis, Chief Executive of Richard House Children's Hospice

Children's hospice services rely overwhelmingly on public support and are supplemented by only a small, unpredictable contribution from the government. While short-term, ad hoc government funding is welcome, a guaranteed system of funding is needed to ensure all children's hospices can provide their essential services, for free, to current and future generations of children who will die before they reach adulthood and their families. Fair Play is seeking a government commitment to provide sustained, long-term funding for children's hospice services.

With a daily reach of 5.1 million viewers, the BBC Breakfast feature provides us with a key opportunity to raise and maximise awareness of the Fair Play for Children's Hospices campaign and the financial issues currently facing children's hospice services across England. We hope you are able to watch the programme and lend your support to this important campaign.

Fair Play is NOT asking for donations, just that you SHOW YOUR SUPPORT by

• Visiting www.fairplayforchildren.org.uk to click and pledge your support
• Asking your family and friends to click and pledge their support
• Writing directly to your local MP to seek their commitment and support for the campaign

Thank you in advance for your support – one click on the Fair Play website really can make a big difference

24th August 2006