From Vancouver to Chorley: Donating to Derian House Children's Hospice
When we committed to giving back in every market where we sell, the UK was high on our list. We'd been selling on Amazon UK for years, with a growing customer base across England, Scotland, and Wales. It was time to make sure British communities benefited from our success there.
Finding the right partner took time. We wanted an organization where our products — especially our children's educational toys and household items — would make a real, tangible difference. That search led us to Derian House Children's Hospice in Chorley, Lancashire.
What Derian House Does
Derian House provides care and support for children and young adults with life-limiting conditions, and their families. They offer respite care, end-of-life care, and bereavement support. Their facility includes bedrooms for overnight stays, a sensory room, hydrotherapy pool, and — most relevant to our story — playrooms and activity spaces where children can simply be children.
When we first read about their work, several of us on the team were parents ourselves. The thought of children facing life-limiting conditions is difficult enough. The idea that there are places dedicated to filling those children's days with play, comfort, and joy — that moved us deeply.
Nearly 2,000 Items
Our donation to Derian House included nearly 2,000 individual items. Boxiki Kids wooden xylophones, alphabet blocks, and educational toys. Kitchen supplies for the hospice's family kitchen. Household items for the comfort of families staying onsite. We wanted to provide a mix of things — some for the children directly, some for the environment around them.
Coordinating the shipment from our UK warehouse to Chorley was handled by our UK team, who took personal ownership of the project. They didn't just arrange delivery — they called ahead, confirmed exactly what Derian House needed most, and tailored the donation accordingly. When the delivery truck arrived, two of our team members were there in person to help unload.
The Email That Changed Our Day
A few weeks after the donation, we received an email from Mick Croskery, the fundraising team at Derian House. We've received many thank-you notes from charity partners, and they all mean something. But this one was different.
Mick described how the children had responded to the toys — the sounds of the xylophones echoing down the hallways, the concentration on small faces as they stacked alphabet blocks, the simple delight of something new and colorful in a space that could easily feel clinical. He wrote about a specific child who had been withdrawn and quiet, and how a set of our musical instruments had drawn them out, prompting smiles that the care team hadn't seen in weeks.
I'm not going to pretend we didn't cry reading that email. Several of us did. We printed it out and it's pinned to the bulletin board in our Toronto office.
Why the UK Matters
It would be easy for a Canadian-based company to focus all charitable efforts close to home. And we do give generously in North America. But our customers in the UK trust us with their money every day. They choose Boxiki products over alternatives, leave reviews that help us grow, and recommend us to friends. We owe those communities something in return.
Derian House was our first UK charity partnership, but it won't be our last. We're actively exploring relationships with other organizations across the UK and Europe. Wherever we sell, we give. That's the promise.
To the team at Derian House: thank you for the extraordinary work you do. It was our privilege to contribute even a small part to the joy you bring to children and families every day.