How it all began

Julia's House: changing lives since 2003

Julia Perks was a dedicated paediatric nurse whose dream was to develop a support network for families struggling to care for a life-limited child without any help or respite. Although Julia’s House is named after Julia Perks, it was her friend Mike Wise who founded the charity. Julia sadly died of cancer before her dream became a reality but Mike, along with a small group of supporters, took up the baton. 

The intention was to raise enough money to build a children’s hospice but in order to start supporting families as early as possible, we launched a fledgling community care service, employing two nurses to support families at homes. This service is still a central part of what we do today – more than 65 per cent our care is community-based - but now Julia’s House has grown to help even more families.