Bhai Sahib, Bhai (Dr) Mohinder Singh OBE KSG’s VIP visit to Acorns Children’s Hospice today (Wednesday) has underlined the importance of support across the entire community for the city’s local children’s hospice charity.
Bhai Sahib, an internationally renowned ambassador of the Sikh faith, visited Acorns in Birmingham, based in Selly Oak, for a tour of the facilities and to see first-hand the charity’s work providing care for life-limited and life-threatened children and young people and support for their families. He met and spoke to families, from across different religious and ethnic communities, about how they and their children have been supported by Acorns. He spoke at length to members of the Asian Mum’s group, a group of bereaved mothers supported by Acorns.
Bhai Sahib expressed how invaluable the support of local community was, to help the charity continue its work, which in the past year has seen it care over 270 children and around 360 families, including those who are bereaved at Acorns in Birmingham.
In 2012, Bhai Sahib – who is Chairman of the Birmingham-based Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha, or GNNSJ – was created a Knight by the Holy Father

Pope Benedict XVI, in recognition of his dedicated work on Roman-Sikh
relations and strong commitment to promoting peace and harmony among all.
Bhai Sahib, said: “The visit has been inspiring. To be shown first-hand the
provision Acorns offers in palliative care for young people from across all our
communities in Birmingham and the West Midlands is inspiring and makes
you truly appreciate the work Acorns the charity is doing. I was very moved by
the stories of the bereaved mothers that I spoke to, but also very inspired to
hear how well supported they feel by each other, and by Acorns.
“Acorns provides the vision and quality of care that these children deserve. It’s
very uplifting to see how tirelessly Acorns work for children and young people,
and for their families. I will be working with our teams to see how we can
collaborate more with the work undertaken. There is a responsibility on all of
us to see how we could support the charity to provide the service it does”.
Toby Porter, Acorns’ Chief Executive, said: “We were honoured to host this
visit, and delighted to show Bhai Sahib the services we provide both in the
hospice and in the community. It was a great opportunity to talk about the
work we do, not just in the hospice but also in the community as we support
local families with the many challenges they face every single day “40% of the children who Acorns in Birmingham currently support are from a (Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic) BAME background, diversity and inclusion are really important to us and we are proud that our Asian Mum’s group have
been running for 25 years”.

Acorns relies on fundraising to raise nearly £10 million per year needed to
provide the range of specialist medical and psychosocial services the children
and their families rely on, in the hospice and the community.
To find out more about Acorns and how you can support the charity’s work,
visit www.acorns.org.uk