Ann Wheeldon meets two families for whom Acorns has meant so much - coping as they face the stresses life has bought them.

THE day five-and-a-half month old Fraser Lewis died was not the worst day of his life, his mum Sadie says.

In fact, thanks to Acorns his last few hours were very special.

"We've got some very positive memories of the whole experience. It was a peaceful and happy day," says Sadie.

"The last few hours we had with Fraser were very special and the medical staff at Acorns had ensured he was no longer in any pain. For the first time in his life he had stopped hurting."

The staff cared for his twin brother Hayden, and sister Corah, then two, so Sadie and husband Guy could spend their last precious moments with Fraser.

Sadie admits she gets very excited when she's asked to talk about Acorns and grabs the chance to tell people how important it has been in her life.

"It's absolutely vital because it's still a really strong link that we have with Fraser, who died four days before Christmas in 1999" she says.

"It would've exacerbated the grief even more if the support had been taken away, but Acorns is still part of our lives."

When I arrive at her Fernhill Heath home, Sadie does not try to usher the children away, and six-year-old Corah happily joins in the chatter about Fraser, who suffered brain-damage and severe epilepsy.

Corah, who has a piercing memory, describes how she had her last cuddle with her brother in the disco-room.

Two-year-old Hayden has drawn a picture of Fraser sitting on a rainbow looking at the rest of the family sitting underneath.

Maybe this openness is the impact of Acorns, because it focuses not just on the life-limited child, but also nurtures their siblings.

Since Fraser died, Corah has been occasionally taken out on days with an Acorns worker, which gave her time to talk, if she wanted to.

And within each hospice there are sibling groups that meet regularly and venture out on day-trips.

Sadie tells me that, last year, when Corah was given a treat of choosing anything to do for the day, she chose taking a picnic to Acorns.

This simple gesture speaks volumes.

"Corah has so many positive memories of the day her brother died and Acorns is somewhere where she enjoys spending time," says Sadie.

"As a family we still visit the memorial garden and love playing in the multi-sensory room.

"To create this feeling about where Fraser died is quite an achievement.

"Acorns is still there for us, two years on and we receive visits from our community liaison worker, which is a time to talk and share memories.

"Acorns still support me now in supporting the kids. Night or day I can pick up the phone and talk to someone who understands.

"It's about sharing my story and that's very important."

The Lewis's also cherish the little things that the charity has done.

They have pictures of Corah's last cuddle with Fraser, after she had raided the hospice's dressing-up box and was dressed as a princess, thanks to thoughtful Acorns staff.

"It's little things like that that have been very important.

"These photographs are now so precious to us all, but we wouldn't have thought about taking them ourselves at the time.

"They also knew what was going on, they really did know that it was the last few hours."

The difference that a Worcester hospice will make to parents of life-limited children across the three counties is obvious when Sadie reveals that the worst hour of her life was the trek to the Selly Oak hospice with Fraser for the last time.

"He was very unwell and we had Corah and Hayden's well being to consider. A hospice in Worcester will mean that many families will not have to make that journey.

"There are many families who are facing the death of their child alone. Acorns Worcester will mean that this can change.

"Acorns changed my son's life and death in an indescribable way. The thought of going through it alone is unthinkable. I'm privileged to be able to support Acorns.

"I just don't know how any parent could go through it by themselves."

ROBERT Davison hates the hour-long trek from his Worcester home to Acorns Selly Oak and screams throughout the car journey.

The trauma makes him hot and agitated and this, in turn, could prompt an epileptic fit.

His parents, Bill and Sally, have been warned it could even kill him.

"He hates the car," Bill admits. "Once we get to the end of the road he gets upset and he gets himself worked up. The unit on the Bath Road will take us five minutes to get to in the car."

However, there's a list of other reasons why they crave the new Worcester unit.

They yearn for the normality it'll bring to their family, including their other son, six-year-old Peter.

"We have to go shopping when he's at school because we can't really take Robert and Peter with us, so we only go once a month," says Sally.

"It's little things like that where an Acorns in Worcester will help. We can see if they'll look after Robert for a couple of hours while we go to the supermarket.

"I've planned this year in advance and booked the bed, because there's more demand for the beds now. There's no chance of one in the holidays, so I tend to go for term-time.

"At the moment there's a huge amount of planning that has to go into something.

"It's either me or Bill who goes out, not both."

The couple are anxious that Peter doesn't feel neglected by the constant attention which Robert, a quadraplegic who suffers from a virulent form of cerebral palsy and epilepsy, demands.

"Without Acorns, we wouldn't be able to get away or have a holiday and do family things with Peter, because he misses out on such a lot. Peter does come along to Acorns Selly Oak too.

"And he enjoys it, but, because we live so far away, he can't really join in with the brothers and sisters groups. That could change with the new unit."

But it's Robert, who now and then flashes a beaming smile and lies quietly contended on Sally's lap as we chat, who's set to reap the most benefit from the unit.

"He'll have more family visitors because, at the moment, family won't travel up to Selly Oak," Sally explains.

"He'll still be able to go to school as well, because the bus can pick him up from there, which obviously it can't if he's in Selly Oak."

Bill and Sally agree that the hydrotherapy pool will be invaluable to Robert.

"There are lots of bright colours to stimulate him all around the pool. He loves the water and always enjoys a bath.

"The unit's been home from home for Robert, he loves it there. They do anything from painting to cooking and they often have story-tellers in to talk to the children.

"There was an arts and crafts visitor and they had a game of bingo, recently, as well."

Concerned nurses at Worcester's Ronkswood Hospital first referred the family to Acorns nearly nine years ago, after Bill and Sally were left physically drained caring for Robert.

"We'd had no sleep for three months when we were referred," says Bill, who works for GPU Power, formerly MEB.

"We thought we could deal with it but, in the end, we had to admit to ourselves that we couldn't.

"Although we'd heard about Acorns, we didn't know what it could offer or if it could help."

Sally agrees: "Yes, it was taken out of our hands and the nurses at Ronkswood just referred him in the end."

Acorns' help is clearly priceless to the Davisons.

Although Sally has eight hours help from social services each week in term-time, and 16 hours during holidays, when Robert isn't attending Rosehill School full-time, the unit allows her to have some cherished respite.

Bill relishes the chance to do his bit for Acorns by giving free safety advice to the emergency services and spending a couple of minutes at the end publicising the charity and the life-changing work it does for his family.

"If anyone talks about anything that I can relate to Acorns, then I give them a leaflet," says Bill. "It's one way I can help."