We are aiming to provide short breaks, specialist pain relief and end of life care for young adults with life limiting conditions. As children, many of these patients are supported in our Children's Service. However, this specialist, personalised care is not funded after they turn 18 because historically these children did not survive into adulthood. Medical advances mean they are living longer, yet there is no appropriate support for these young people in their final years of life. Most of the patients who need this service will have progressive neurologial conditions and profound learning difficulties and the team at St Oswald’s Hospice is fully trained and equipped to meet their complex needs. We propose converting part of our existing children’s facility into a safe, secure and age appropriate short break facility for young adults. This will ensure continuity of care and quality of life during our patients’ final years. It will also relieve some of the distress and anxiety suffered by parents who currently struggle to find any appropriate help or support at a time when they need it most. Our intention is to ‘pump prime’ this new service using charitable funds. We will appoint a Project Leader who will work closely with Health and Social Services to ensure that each young adult receives the best possible package of care. The Project Leader will also continue the process of negotiating contracts with local statutory services. We expect to phase in funding from commissioners over 2 years, filling the gap with charitable funding, until they contribute the full annual cost of caring for young adults with life limiting conditions. We are seeking charitable funding to pay for the necessary building works and refurbishment within our existing children’s unit, to employ our Project Leader and to cover the initial running costs of this vital service. (Most of these costs are for staffing. We will require additional input from specialist nurses, physiotherapists, play therapists, a music therapist, administrative staff and housekeepers). The costs break down as follows: Capital works: £122,900.00 Project leader and support: £74,465.00 (over 2 years) Revenue costs: £271,000.00 Thank you for your interest in our work. We very much hope you can help us ensure that young, North East adults with life limiting conditions can enjoy the best possible quality of life during their final years.