Our history
The life and work of Demelza Phillips inspired the creation of our charity and our hospices.
Our care and support model is built on more than 25 years’ experience and founded on Demelza’s legacy.
What we do
Demelza is a charity providing extraordinary care to extraordinary children with serious or life-limiting conditions and their families.
We provide care as unique as every family we support, from symptom management, day care and short breaks, to practical and emotional support for families and siblings, creative therapies, memory making, end of life care and bereavement support.
Support services are provided wherever best suits families – in their homes, at our hospice sites or in the community. Our service and support model is built on more than 25 years’ experience.
Our history
Our organisation carries the name of Demelza Phillips, daughter of Derek and Jennifer Phillips, who died of a brain tumour at the age of 24.
Demelza worked at a children’s hospice in Birmingham and was inspired by their work and its impact. This passion was passed onto her parents and is what inspired the creation of our charity and our hospices.
Derek and Jennifer had the vision to establish a children’s hospice in the South East of England, and working with a small group of founding supporters, in 1994 they set up a charity that campaigned tirelessly across the areas where we are now so well established.
This attracted thousands of supporters and in 1998 our patron, the Countess of Burma, opened the hospice in Sittingbourne, Kent. The building was designed by Derek himself as an architect and is a remarkable bringing together of beauty, serenity and practicality.
More about Demelza
In 2004, Demelza merged with James House, a charity established in East Sussex by Robin and Mary Gooch, following the death of their 11-year-old son James.
This merger enabled us to provide therapies, respite and end of life care in the comfort and security of a child’s own home across East Sussex.
In 2009, the final piece of the founding vision was put into place, with the build and opening of a hospice in Eltham to serve the boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. Our South East London hospice is an oasis of peace, fun, opportunity and rest for young people with serious or life-limiting conditions and their families.
Sadly, Jennifer Phillips died unexpectedly in August 2001 aged 61. She is remembered in our Garden of Tranquillity, along with many of the children and young people who have used the hospice. Derek sadly died at the age of 83 in July 2024.