Bereavement Service

What we offer

An experienced team of Counsellors and Volunteers.

Support to families and friends of St.Helena Hospice patients, whether they died in the Hospice or in the Community.

Contact by letter within three weeks of bereavement.

A follow up call six weeks after bereavement.

Home visits if required.

We can also offer help and support through:

Link Meetings - a monthly support group for the newly bereaved.

Individual grief counselling when particular difficulties arise.

A grief support programme for families and children.

A support group for bereaved grandchildren.

St Helena Hospice has joined in partnership with muchloved.com a UK charity that helps people create beautiful and special memorial websites to remember and commemorate their loved ones.. The site can be used to create a personalise tribute to your loved one with no cost or obligation. The site also allows In Memoriam donations to be made to the charity of your choice. Please click here to visit the website and begin creating your own tribute.

Family Support is available to patients and families whether admitted to the In Patient Unit or being cared for in the Community. This service is provided by Counsellors, Social Workers and Art Therapists, Chaplains and others.

Referrals can be made directly to the Hospice Referral Team. We are available for consultation and advice to other professionals and organisations including schools.

What we offer

Emotional and social support to patients and families facing the pressures, anxieties and general disruption to their lives caused by a life threatening illness.

Practical advice and information on welfare entitlements, local authority and community resources and assistance with complex SUPPORT compensation claims arising from a person's illness.

Preparation of children, together with their parents, in facing a forthcoming loss. This support is continued within the Grief Support Programme for families and children.

Support for adults following the loss is offered by the Bereavement Services.

Resources include memory boxes, activity sheets, books, leaflets and booklists.

HOW?

Understanding and sharing feelings
Finding ways to remember the person who died
Meeting others in a safe environment
Sharing feelings and experience
Providing information to enable families and children to understand death and what it means to them

WHEN?

The programme takes place at least once a year
Written invitations to participants are sent out within six to nine months of a bereavement

WHERE?

Residential groups at specially chosen venues with organised outdoor activities

WHO?

The programme is available for:

A surviving parent
Young adults aged between seventeen and twenty-five years
Teenagers aged between eleven and sixteen years
Children aged between five and ten years