Hummingbird House provides best practice short break stays and care at the end of life for children with a life-limiting condition and their families.

The $10,000 Westfield Local Heroes grant has meant Hummingbird house can offer its essential services to more families including: short break stays, symptom management, care at the end of life, and visiting families in their homes to discuss what is important to them and their child, and how Hummingbird House can support them in achieving these goals.

As a new charity, Local Heroes also helped establish the charity’s profile within the local community.

No task is too big or small for Athol Alcorn when it comes to helping the bravest fighters.

As a father, grandfather and great-grandfather, 86-year-old Athol has plenty of family of his own to keep him busy.

But he still makes sure he spends two days a week giving his time to Queensland’s only children’s hospice, Hummingbird House.

“After having cared for my wife for a number of years before she passed away, I was looking for an opportunity to once again contribute to the community,” he says.

“Volunteering at Hummingbird House is one small way I can do that and return something to the community which has been so good to me over the course of my life.”

At the hospice, Athol’s main job is to work with staff and other volunteers to create a home-like environment for children with life-limiting conditions and their families. A humble soul, he is always ready to perform some basic maintenance behind the scenes or do the legwork that makes a unique event possible.

He is even better known for his encouraging words and positive conversations with staff and guests.

It means sick children and their families can focus on creating special memories.

Athol says he is humbled to be voted a Westfield Local Hero.

Hummingbird House will put its $10,000 Westfield Local Heroes grant towards its mission of providing short break stays, family support services, creative therapies, and care at the end of life, for children with life-limiting conditions.

“For me to see that my personal contributions are helping the children and their families is reward enough, but for this to have increased the recognition of what Hummingbird House does and result in a generous gift to support our work is wonderful,” he says.

For further information on the Westfield Local Heroes program, click here.