St Elizabeth Hospice can offer a range of services to children, young people and their families.
Coping with illness, loss and bereavement is not easy for anyone, especially when it involves someone you care about. We aim to offer practical and emotional support to those trying to cope with living with illness, uncertainty, grief and loss.
Why do you have a support and bereavement service for children and young people?
The illness or death of a close family relative can be an overwhelming, painful and lonely experience for a child or young person. It may be hard to talk with a parent or other close relative who are already upset. Friends may also be reluctant because they do not know what to say.
Loss and bereavement is something most people experience some time in their lives. It can be reassuring to know these powerful and difficult feelings are not unusual and are a normal reaction.
Some common feelings of loss and grief are:
- Sadness
- Loneliness
- Anger
- Guilt
- Confusion
- Fear
- Sleeplessness
- Feeling different
- Lack of appetite
- Numbness or not feeling anything
- Finding everyday situations difficult
How might this service help?
When something like illness or death happens it can be a strange and frightening time; talking about it or doing activities can help make things less scary. Activities could include arts, crafts, drawing, painting, writing, stories or music.
Finding out that others feel the same and talking about it can help. Discovering it’s okay to feel sad and it’s okay to have a good time and have fun can be reassuring.
What can we offer?
- A confidential service
- Information, advice and resources that are available to help support children and young people
- Working with parents to support them when talking about difficult information i.e. what and how much do we tell children, answering a child’s questions