Why Be The Light CIC Exists

The Reality Families Face

When your child stays in hospital for weeks or months, life changes overnight. Parents often face exhaustion, high costs, and a lack of support.

Research shows that extended hospital stays (28+ nights) are a regular reality for children with life-limiting conditions. Families pay the price emotionally and financially.

A UK study found that carers spend hundreds of pounds per week on food, travel, and accommodation while staying near their child. At the same time, hospitals themselves struggle, as the average length of emergency admissions has risen to 9.1 days.

The Human Cost

That data tells one side of the story. Here’s the other:
– Parents sleeping in waiting rooms
– Families splitting time between hospital and siblings at home
– Missed work, strained finances, and emotional fatigue

As one healthcare leader put it:

“When a child is in hospital, the whole family is in crisis. Systems often focus on the patient and forget the carers.” – Dr Sarah Bennett, NHS paediatric consultant (2024)

Why a CIC, and Why Us

Be The Light CIC exists to bridge that gap. We are a Community Interest Company (CIC) — designed to deliver social good, trade ethically, and reinvest profits for impact.

Unlike charities that depend solely on donations, CICs create sustainable income through trading. That’s why we deliver talks, workshops, and partnerships that raise both awareness and revenue.

We commit that 40% of surplus profits go to Amelia’s Light (with the consent of the CIC Regulator). The rest sustains operations. This balance ensures we can act today and still be here tomorrow.

The NHS Confederation notes:

“Community Interest Companies play a vital role in innovation, filling gaps in care and creating more personalised services.” (NHS Confed, 2024)

Our Core Beliefs

• You deserve care too. Parents and carers should never feel invisible beside their child’s bed.
• Small supports change everything. A travel grant, a wellbeing kit, or a check-in call can lift pressure and restore hope.
• Change starts from the ground up. We’ll partner with hospitals, schools, and workplaces to make family-centred care the norm.

How We Act

• Talks and training: helping employers, hospitals, and schools understand what families face
• Wellbeing kits: journals, calming tools, and essentials for carers
• Awareness campaigns: giving a voice to hidden struggles
• Corporate partnerships: linking social impact to CSR goals
• Sponsor-a-family: direct, visible community support

Through Amelia’s Light, we’ll also provide emergency grants for meals, travel, or accommodation — with CIC Regulator approval.

Why Now

The timing matters.

• Cost-of-living pressures mean more families can’t afford extended hospital stays.
• Healthcare reform pushes care out of hospitals and into communities.
• Social enterprises like CICs are increasingly valued for their role in innovation.

Put simply: families need support, the system requires innovation, and we provide both.

A Parent’s Story

One parent told us:

When Amelia was admitted, I only packed enough for four days. Doctors told me she had 48 hours to improve, or we’d go to hospice. I had to spend £150 to buy food and clothes. There was no charity able to help. That’s when I knew we had to create something better.

Be the Light CIC was founded on lived experience. That’s why we refuse to look away from families still facing the same gaps.

What You Can Do

• Partner with us—if you’re a hospital, school, or business.
• Sponsor a family—provide practical support directly.
• Join a transparent initiative—help support carers in your setting.
• Donate transparently — help fund Amelia’s Light (with CIC Regulator consent).
• Advocate—share the message that families matter, too.

FAQs