For nine-year-old Sophie, Claire House Children’s Hospice is her playground of independence. For her mum Pearl and dad Mark, it’s a safe place where their sassy daughter can be herself.

“Claire House is a place I get to come and cause a lot of trouble,” shares Sophie, from West Derby, Liverpool. “You get to do things you can't do at home because your parents say no!”

“Sophie is such a sassy little girl,” says mum Pearl. “But she has a lot of physical and medical challenges.”

Sophie was born with Infantile Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a rare genetic condition that causes muscle weakness. This means Sophie is unable to walk and uses a wheelchair, as well as requiring 24-hour care.

“For the first couple of years, Sophie spent a lot of time in hospital,” says Pearl. “She would get very poorly.

“And we found we didn’t have much support. Sophie couldn’t go to nursery like other children, so she was always with us.”

As Sophie grew, she spent time at Zoe’s Place Liverpool before coming to Claire House after she reached their age limit.

At Claire House, Sophie enjoys day care sessions filled with activities and trips, all under the care of a dedicated team. Her family also receives support and help understanding her condition.

“When people hear the word ‘hospice’, they quite often think the worst,” shares dad Mark, “but Claire House is a home, it’s a safe place for us all.

“When Sophie is there, she gets to be independent from us, while we know that all of her medical needs are being taken care of.

“Sophie doesn’t like to be told no, so she can get really frustrated when she can’t do something.”

Sophie’s condition means that she requires monitoring and supervision and requires extra support to move around safely.

“All Sophie wants is to be included,” says Mark. “And we know that when she comes to Claire House it is a break away from our normal family routine for her. Here, she is safe and accepted, and it is somewhere fun for her.”

“I love getting up to arts and crafts when I come to Claire House and getting to play hide and seek,” says Sophie. “I get to choose what I want to do.”

For Pearl and Mark, when Sophie comes to Claire House’s West Derby site it means they can spend time with Sophie’s older sister, Amelia.

“It can feel like a lot of our time is given to Sophie,” shares Pearl. “She has a lot of hospital appointments and if she gets unwell, we cannot do much with Amelia.

“But when Sophie comes to Claire House, we can go and do the things and activities that Amelia usually wouldn’t get to do. Without the hospice, we would not get that opportunity.”

Alongside coming for day care, Sophie and her family enjoy family splash sessions in the hydrotherapy pool at the hospice’s Wirral site.

“Sophie loves being in the hydrotherapy pool,” says Pearl.

"Some days Sophie wakes up and says ‘When can I walk, Mummy?’. Although Sophie cannot walk, the pool at Claire House is the one place where she feels like she can.

“It’s great to go as a family, as we can’t take Sophie to normal swimming pools, they are just too cold.”

“I love going to family splash,” shares Sophie. “I get to splash, play on the net raft and just spend time with mum, dad and Amelia.”

“The hydrotherapy pool is somewhere we can just spend time together as a family and Sophie can feel like any other child,” says Pearl.

Claire House have been there for the family since Sophie was six years old and will continue to support them for as long as they need.

“Thank you is not enough,” shares Mark. “People use thank you all the time and it’s not big enough for what Claire House have done for us, it doesn’t capture what it means to be as thankful as we are to them.

“The admiration we have for the people who support these places, it really is a gift that they give us.”