Shooting Star Chase

What Shooting Star Chase does

Shooting Star Children's Hospices (previously known as Shooting Star Chase) is a UK registered charity (No. 1042495; Company No. 02927688) providing specialist palliative and end-of-life care to babies, children, and young people with life-limiting conditions, together with holistic support for their families. The organisation operates two core facilities: Christopher's in Guildford (Surrey), which delivers overnight respite and specialist nursing, and Shooting Star House in Hampton (west London), which serves as the outreach, therapies, and family support centre, including a hydrotherapy pool offering 300+ sessions per year. Service lines span nursing care, respite stays, symptom management, complementary and music therapy, bereavement counselling (available for up to three years and three months), sibling support groups, memory-making, hospice-at-home and hospital-sitting, and transitional support for young adults. A trauma-informed Breathe programme and a partnership with the bereavement charity SLOW extend the psychosocial offering.

The business model is donation-led rather than commercial. All hospice services are provided free of charge to families; the £12 million annual operating cost is funded approximately 71% from community income (individual donations, fundraising events, the Tuckwell Chase Lottery, charity shops, and corporate partnerships) and 29% from statutory government sources. The technology stack supporting operations is mainstream SaaS — Stripe and PayPal for donations, Mailchimp for newsletters, JustGiving for online fundraising, Eventbrite for event ticketing, Google Analytics and Facebook Insights for supporter analytics, and a ChatBot for website triage — with no proprietary AI/ML or clinical-decision technology. Operations are governed by a Board of Trustees under CEO Paul Farthing, with a multidisciplinary paid workforce of approximately 150 staff supported by 400 volunteers, CQC-regulated clinical practice, and Fundraising Regulator and GDPR compliance.

Name

Shooting Star Chase

Legal name

Shooting Star Children's Hospices

Website

https://shootingstar.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Shooting Star Children's Hospices is a UK registered charity delivering specialist palliative, respite, and bereavement care to babies, children, and young people with life-limiting conditions across Surrey and west London, operating from Christopher's hospice in Guildford and Shooting Star House in Hampton.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Hospice and Palliative Care

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120)

SIC

Services-Home Health Care Services (8082), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Pediatric Hospice & Palliative Care (HLADAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Palliative Care, Hospice & Serious Illness Support (BPAGACAK)

Keywords

• Children's hospice care
• Palliative care services
• Bereavement support
• Charity fundraising
• Family support services

Headquarters

HQ city

Hampton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Relies heavily on public donations, fundraising events, and community support. Only 29% of funding comes from government sources. Annual operating cost is £12 million.
2. Charity Shops: Multiple charity shops across Surrey and west London selling pre-loved items including clothes, toys, and bric-a-brac. Online store and eBay store also available.
3. Lottery: Tuckwell Chase Lottery raising funds through regular lottery participation
4. Corporate Partnerships: Corporate fundraising, employee volunteering, and corporate event participation
5. Events: Challenge events including marathons, skydives, and coastal walks. Registration fees and fundraising targets.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Shooting Star Children's Hospices operates two hospice facilities (Christopher's in Guildford and Shooting Star House in Hampton) providing specialist palliative and respite care for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions across Surrey and west London. Services include nursing and medical care, symptom management, hydrotherapy, complementary and music therapies, family and sibling support, hospice-at-home visits, and an extended bereavement support programme for up to three years and three months after a child's death. Care is provided free of charge to families, with operations funded by donations, fundraising events, a lottery programme, and a network of charity shops.

Product overview

Shooting Star Children's Hospices operates two hospice facilities providing comprehensive palliative care services for babies, children, and young people with life-limiting conditions. Christopher's in Guildford serves as the primary inpatient hospice offering overnight stays, respite, and specialist nursing, while Shooting Star House in Hampton functions as an outreach, therapies, and family support centre. The hospice offers a portfolio of services including hydrotherapy, complementary therapies, music therapy, bereavement counselling, sibling support groups, and memory-making programmes. The organization funds its £12 million annual operations primarily through charitable donations, running events, a lottery programme, and operating charity shops.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Christopher's: Guildford hospice providing respite and specialist nursing overnight care
• Shooting Star House
• Tuckwell Chase Lottery
• #TeamShootingStar
• Breathe
• SLOW

Products and services

• Christopher's Hospice

Quantifiable outcome

• 365 days a year specialist care available to families
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National Garden SchemecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Garden Scheme, established in 1927 to support district nurses, raises millions for nursing and health charities annually. Christopher's hospice opens annually for the National Garden Scheme, with 100% of profits from admission going to the scheme.
• Run for CharitycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership providing places in hundreds of running events across London, south of England, and the UK for #TeamShootingStar participants.
• Tuckwell Chase LotterycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party lottery fundraising partner carrying out door-to-door canvassing. Tuckwell Chase Lottery celebrates its 25th anniversary supporting the hospice.
• SMILE FundraisingminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDoor-to-door canvassing partner. Representatives are fully trained, wear branded uniform, and have visible ID badges.
• 9th Guildford Scout GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChristopher's Scout Group is affiliated with the 9th Guildford Scout Group, providing inclusive scouting for children and young people with life-limiting conditions aged 6+.
• SLOW (Surviving the Loss of Your World)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAward-winning bereavement charity collaborating with Shooting Star to deliver daytime support groups for bereaved parents after the death of a child.
• Brewin DolphinminorOthersWealth management company that donated an RHS Chelsea Flower Show silver-medal winning garden to Christopher's hospice, repurposed from the show.
• EnsonominorOthersCorporate partner that won the 2026 Corporate Cup football tournament.
• Elmbridge Xcel Sports HubminorOthersSports venue hosting the Corporate Cup tournament.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People: East Midlands children's hospice offering palliative care, respite, and bereavement support across Leicestershire and surrounding counties. Comparable in family-centred care and community fundraising, distinct geographically.
• Martin House Children's Hospice: Yorkshire-based children's hospice providing respite, emergency, and end-of-life care plus bereavement support. Highly comparable in clinical model and family-support ethos but operates in a different UK region.
• Children's Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS): Scotland's national children's hospice charity operating two hospices and a home-care service. Comparable in mission and service portfolio but serves a distinct Scottish geography from Shooting Star's Surrey/London catchment.

Direct peers

• East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH): Children's hospice charity operating across East Anglia with three hospice sites and a hospice-at-home service. Comparable in multi-site paediatric palliative care model, retail fundraising network, and lottery-driven recurring revenue.
• Demelza Hospice Care for Children: Kent-based children's hospice charity providing respite, end-of-life, and bereavement care across Kent, South East London, and East Sussex. Highly comparable in clinical model, community-led fundraising, and family-support orientation.
• Acorns Children's Hospice: UK children's hospice charity operating three hospices across the West Midlands and South West, offering similar palliative care, respite, and bereavement services to babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions. Directly comparable in mission, service model, and reliance on community fundraising.
• Helen & Douglas House: Oxford-based children's hospice caring for terminally ill children and their families, with both a children's and young adults' hospice. Closely comparable in paediatric palliative care focus, bereavement support, and charity-shop/lottery fundraising model.
• Haven House Children's Hospice: North East London and West Essex children's hospice providing palliative and bereavement care, plus hospice-at-home services. Highly comparable in service mix and partially overlapping geographic footprint in North/East London.
• Claire House Children's Hospice: North West England children's hospice supporting babies, children, and young people with life-limiting conditions, including bereavement and sibling support. Comparable in hospice-at-home delivery, challenge-event fundraising, and corporate partnership programmes.

Others

• Together for Short Lives: UK-wide charity and membership body supporting children's palliative care services and the families they serve. Comparable as a sectoral peer — a potential partner, advocate, or policy collaborator rather than a direct service competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCHYjA5RCXX0HrWr1oJpFxxg
• Facebookfacebook.com/sschospices
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shooting-star-childrens-hospices
• Instagraminstagram.com/sschospices
• TikToktiktok.com/@sschospices
• Xx.com/sschospices

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shooting Star Chase