When Janet Dacie came to Saint Francis Hospice, she spoke with pride about the remarkable life she had lived and the difference she was able to make. 

At Saint Francis Hospice, holistic care means honouring what truly matters to each person. For Janet, that included the commitment she and her husband Norman shared to helping vulnerable children in war?torn countries. It was through Norman’s involvement that Janet first learned about this work, and together they dedicated themselves to supporting children who needed safety, care and hope. Even during her time with us, she received a heartfelt letter from a child whose life she had touched. This was a powerful reminder of her compassion and the legacy she leaves behind. 

It was our privilege to support Janet in her final chapter and to celebrate the remarkable life she led. This is Janet’s story.

Norman supported a charity called Stand by Me, which rescues children from terrible circumstances and then provides the care, love and attention they need to thrive. Through their homes, schools and care centres they are meeting children’s individual needs, helping them overcome huge obstacles and enabling them to become who they were born to be.  

At first, I supported the work reluctantly as, after many years working in a professional environment, I didn’t have a connection with children. But I gradually learned about the work of the charity and its projects in countries like Colombia, Ethiopia and Myanmar and the more I learned, I realised that I was in a position to help. 

Stand by Me

On one occasion, after hearing David Spurdle, Stand by Me Founding Director, speak at my church, Upminster Baptist Church, I decided to support the charity to employ nurses in Myanmar to vastly improve the health of the children in Stand by Me’s care, providing medical supplies, mosquito nets, medical kits, nurse training and water filtration systems.

Employing the nurses saw an improvement in the health of the children, and as their health improved, so did their school attendance and performance. Stand by Me was caring for over 2,200 children in Myanmar and I was thankful to be paying my part in helping to change their lives. 

I received updates and feedback on the progress of the nurses and the children they cared for and my support expanded as I heard more children’s stories and was able to impact their lives, particularly through assisting to provide medical care for children like Sena in Ethiopia and the families of the children in Stand by Me’s care like Shree Maya in Nepal: 

A Trip to Nepal in February 2017.

Caring for Sena and Shree

Sena was born with a problem with one of her legs, so to care for Sena her father would carry her everywhere he went, even to work. Stand by Me gave Sena not just a quality education at the Abdi Academy but also nutritious meals, medical care and crutches which she soon learnt to speed around on. But they wanted more for Sena and after appointments with medical experts she had an operation and has been fitted with a prosthetic leg. Now her smile is wide as she gets to wear matching shoes on her feet, once just a dream. Her confidence has grown and grown as she I snow able to walk around school. 

Janet's joy at helping others.

Shree Maya, a young mother from the remote hills of the Khairang, where I later visited, her family home was high up on the valley and was little more than a mud and stone hut with no water supply close by. The family was scraping a living through subsistence farming. The family was illiterate until a small school was started for the children where some of Shree maya’s children attend.  

Shree Maya had given birth to a child but knowing nothing of the processes of childbirth, did not understand that a retained placenta was a serious complication and needed rapid intervention. It was not until a week later, when she was bleeding and weak with infection that her family contacted Stand by Me’s representative in Nepal for help. She was urgently brought down to the local hospital in the nearest town and then moved to the ITU in Bharatpur for surgery, a blood transfusion and medication which saved her life. Equipping women like Shree Maya with the most basic of skills and knowledge about health and hygiene was part of Stand by Me’s work.  

The transformative moment for me was when I was invited to attend Stand by Me’s 20th Anniversary in 2015. I was struck by how Stand by Me had come so far, then caring for 3,500 children and enabling them to experience a life of love, hope and dignity as they met their individual needs. They had come so far in such a short period of time thanks to a small number of dedicated people. As Stand by Me shared their hopes and plans for the future, they launched an initiative and invited me to become an Advocate - somebody who speaks out on behalf of children.  

Sponsoring Rebecca

I was challenged and I knew I had to sponsor children as well as put myself forward to meet the children we supported.  

Since then, sponsoring children has been a great blessing in my life and I have seen the children I have sponsored grow, progress and succeed in life thanks to the care, education and love they have received. Through exchanging letters, I have got to know the children and since being in Saint Francis Hospice, I received this letter from my sponsored child Rebecca in Myanmar:  

“Dear Janet and Norman, I wanted you to know that I am praying for you. I am writing this with a heart full of emotions that it is difficult to find the right words. God is watching over us. God cares for us and God knows what is best for us. You taught me about a love that asks for nothing in return. My dearest Janet, I understand you must prepare for your next journey. I am saying “Goodbye”. How can I? You are leaving me, but you are not leaving me empty. You are leaving me full, full of love, full of strength and full of memories. The kindness you showed me, I will shoe to others. The patience you had I will now practice. The future you invested in, I will now live. Lots of love, from your child, Rebecca.”  

I was delighted that I was able to visit Stand by Me’s work in Nepal and Ethiopia.  Seeing their smiles as they received this small teddy showed me that I was able to make a difference to a child’s life and bring them joy.  

Making a difference in Ethiopia

In 2018 my husband and I visited the Bethany Stand by Me School in Ethiopia as part of a small group of volunteers. Amongst other things we helped make and paint bed frames and saw first hand the excitement that the provision of a bed gave a family living in poverty. 

As a result of my experience in Ethiopia and witnessing the conditions in the community, in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025 I took part in Stand by Me’s February on the Floor, spending between a week and a couple of night’s giving up my bed and sleeping on the floor to raise money to provide children with a good night’s sleep. 

Around the world, there are families whose living conditions are inadequate and who spend every night sleeping on the cold, hard floor and so I took on this challenge so that I could improve their sleeping conditions and provide them with beds. 
 
For me, a great grandmother, discomfort for two nights was completely worth it as I know that a good night's sleep can transform a family's life. Over the four years I raised over £8,000 to lift children off the floor and into a new bed and I got to see the photos of families receiving their first ever bed, one family in Ethiopia who received a bed shared, “Today we are going to get the sleep we have always dreamed of. We used to sleep on the floor, but this has passed, now we own a nice bed with bed materials thanks to those who are the reason this happened.” 

Janet died peacefully on 9th January 2026.