Our Story

After 11 years of fundraising, Tŷ Hafan opened in 1999 and immediately began to bring much-needed hope, comfort and support to families in Wales.

Our wonderful story is one of incredible kindness, continuous hard work and complete dedication to bring happiness and joy into the lives of the children and families we support.

Our inspiring founder

In 1988, recently retired Suzanne Goodall wondered how she would fill her time. Learning of a friend’s experience volunteering in a Yorkshire children’s hospice, Suzanne started on a journey that would change her life and the lives of children and families in Wales forever.

Suzanne discovered that because there was no children’s hospice in Wales, many children with life-shortening conditions were not receiving the care they or their families needed.

Determined to change this, Suzanne launched a fundraising campaign to open a children’s hospice in south Wales. Thanks to the generosity of the public, Suzanne’s vision became a reality in 1999, when we opened the doors to our hospice for the very first time.
Since then, the hard work at Tŷ Hafan has never stopped. Inspired by Suzanne’s commitment, determination and kindness, we’ve continued to do all we can to reach and support every child, young person and family who needs us.

I had no doubts that the people of Wales, understanding the situation that these children and families faced, would open their hearts and give generously. My faith was indeed justified.

- Suzanne Goodall, Founder of Tŷ Hafan

An inspirational message from our founder Suzanne Goodall

Our Timeline

From our foundation in 1990, we’ve worked hard to keep developing our charity and services so we can meet the all-round needs of children with life-shortening conditions and their families.

Tŷ Hafan is registered as a charity and a fundraising appeal is launched at Cardiff Castle.

We obtain a site in Sully for the building of our hospice.

South Wales Echo launches its Tŷ Hafan Appeal.

Diana, Princess of Wales, becomes the patron of Tŷ Hafan.

Our first ever charity shop is opened in Pontypridd.

Luciano Pavarotti holds a concert in Cardiff to raise money for Tŷ Hafan.

The building of our hospice commences.

We start to fit and equip our hospice building.

We hold our first lottery draw and Welsh3peaks Challenge.

We open our hospice’s doors to our first Tŷ Hafan families.

HRH The Prince of Wales becomes our patron and makes his first visit to our hospice.

We make our services available seven days a week.

Suzanne Goodall, Tŷ Hafan’s founder, is awarded the MBE in The Queen’s New Year Honours.

We expand our Family Support team.

We launch the first ever scout group for a hospice in Wales.

We rebrand ourselves and celebrate our 10th birthday.

BBC Wales screens a four-part documentary series about Tŷ Hafan called Beautiful Lives.

We create our Education and Research department.

We receive prestigious awards for our care services from the Royal College of Nursing.

We build a new facility at our hospice that means we can provide on-site training to our care professionals and house all our head office staff at Sully.

We celebrate our 15th birthday and open our state-of-the-art hydrotherapy pool and fully accessible playground at our hospice.

Our hospice’s kitchen gets a major £140,000 refurbishment.

We give our sensory playroom a state-of-the-art upgrade.

Suzanne Goodall, Tŷ Hafan’s founder, passes away aged 95.

We celebrate our 20th birthday.

How we help

At Tŷ Hafan, we provide a wide range of specialist services for children and young people with life-shortening conditions, while supporting and offering compassion for their loved ones. This specialist care and support greatly improves lives, offers a source of strength and helps families to experience many happy moments together.

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Support us

Give a gift, organise a fundraising event, become a hero volunteer. There are many ways you can support our vital work, so please make a difference today. Whatever you choose to do will help to make a short life a full life.

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Help us today, donate now.

By giving a precious gift today, you can help provide specialist care and support that families urgently need right now.

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Our Story

After 11 years of fundraising, Tŷ Hafan opened in 1999 and immediately began to bring much-needed hope, comfort and support to families in Wales.

Our inspiring founder

I had no doubts that the people of Wales, understanding the situation that these children and families faced, would open their hearts and give generously. My faith was indeed justified.