Great Ormond Street charity demands travel fund be extended to ALL seriously ill children, not just cancer patients

Laurie Grimwade, from Plymouth, has already spent £12,350 getting her 12-year-old son Woody to Great Ormond Street Hospital and expects costs to hit £15,000 by the time he turns 18. Woody, who has a rare autoimmune disease called DADA2, had a bone marrow transplant at GOSH in 2022. Lost earnings and additional childcare costs on top of travel expenses have stripped the family of any financial safety net.

The government plans to introduce a £10m annual travel fund — but only for children with cancer, leaving families of children with other serious illnesses without support.

GOSH Charity chief executive Louise Parkes says children with 'rare, complex and life-threatening conditions' face 'exactly the same journeys and exactly the same financial pressure' as cancer families.

'No parent should be worrying about whether they can afford the train fare or petrol to get their child to specialist care,' Parkes warned.