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About Lifelites

Life-changing technology that powers inclusion, involvement and independence

We enable children and young people to improve their mental wellbeing, take control of their lives, and be an active part of their world.

That may be through playing games with siblings, connecting with peers on social media, telling their parents they love them for the first time, or accurately describing the pain they feel to a medical professional.

Our vision

We believe every child with a life-limiting condition should be able to engage and interact with the people they love and enjoy the world they live in.

Our mission

We harness innovative sensory and assistive technology to empower children and young people with life-limiting conditions, along with their families, to experience unforgettable moments of connection, creativity and joy.

We value inclusivity

We use innovative technology to transform the lives of children with life-limiting conditions, empowering their inclusion and enjoyment of life and removing the barriers that prevent them from connecting with the world around them.

We value empowerment

We believe everyone has an innate need to play, create and communicate. Our technology and unique services enable children, their families, our partners and our team to discover and reach their full potential.

We value innovation

We constantly seek new, exciting and innovative ways to achieve our vision and mission, serving children in need and their families, developing our expertise and building our relationships with our palliative care partners.

We value collaboration

We collaborate with diverse people, organisations and businesses that share our vision, believing that combining resources improves outcomes for children, families and our partners.

We value dynamism

We constantly adapt to meet the changing needs of children, families, and palliative care partners, using our expertise to maximise our impact. With 25 years of experience, we have unrivalled knowledge of assistive and sensory technology that we happily share with our partners.

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Lifelites FAQs

There are a wide range of life-limiting and life-threatening conditions affecting children and young people, which are broadly categorised into four groups:

  • Life-threatening conditions for which curative treatment may be possible but could fail
  • Conditions that mean premature death is inevitable
  • Progressive conditions without curative treatment
  • Irreversible but non-progressive conditions causing severe disability, leading to susceptibility to health

Diagnosis is only part of the process of identifying children who need support from palliative care services: the spectrum and severity of the disease, as well as the needs/wishes of the child and family and the impact on their lives, also need to be considered.

Children’s palliative care is life-long supportive care. It’s all-encompassing care provided to children and their families over time. Alongside medical care, children experience therapeutic treatments, home visits, and different types of support involving many activities. This support extends to the whole family, with parents and siblings involved throughout. For instance, care teams can support parents in meeting their children’s needs, and siblings can get involved in therapeutic activities.

Assistive technology is any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities.

Assistive technology helps people who have difficulty speaking, typing, writing, remembering, pointing, seeing, hearing, learning, walking, and many other things. Different conditions and disabilities require different assistive technologies.

Sensory technology can help children with life-limiting conditions experience different sensations using special sound and visual effects, tactile experiences, vibration and music.

Sensory technology can provide a calming effect to address anxiety and feelings of overwhelm, be used for fun and games, or aid learning and development.

We receive no government or statutory funding and need to raise around £1m a year to continue providing life-changing technology and free support to almost 60 children’s hospices and palliative care services across Britain and Ireland.

In total, each package costs up to £60,000 and is provided on a rolling four-year cycle. After that our partners receive a new technology bundle and associated training and support services. This guarantees that children and families always have access to the latest, up-to-date and fully supported technology.

We are a small charity with a big impact, and we make sure that every donation we receive is maximised for the children and families we support.

Over the past three years (2022-24), we have raised around £3 for every £1 we have spent on fundraising and marketing.

We believe that inclusive, high quality, sustainable fundraising is vital for Lifelites to achieve its mission and vision. We hold our fundraising and marketing to the highest standards and are always looking at how we can improve the experience for our amazing supporters.

Please visit fundraising your way to see how you can support children with life-limiting conditions.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide technology to individual families or for the benefit of one individual. We work with organisations who support a large number of children, young people and families.

There are charities that support individuals obtain assistive technology, such as the gaming charity, Special Effects (https://www.specialeffect.org.uk/).

Any organisation within the palliative care sector that is concerned with children’s care can contact Lifelites via the contact form on the website. However, please note this is NOT an application process but consideration will be given to all organisations that fall within our charitable criteria.