St Elizabeth Hospice has been developing Zest since 2015, working closely with East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices & other services, to ensure young adults have a smooth transition into adult care.
Zest supports young adults aged 14 and upwards with progressive and incurable illnesses to ensure that they get the specialist care, tailored treatment and services they need to be able to enjoy life to the full.
Through this specialist care, young adults with challenging conditions are able to fulfil their aspirations, whether this is to manage their symptoms, access opportunities in the community and reduce loneliness by enabling them to meet and have fun with friends.
Watch our video to see what you can expect from Zest.
Transition nurse coordination support for young adults living with life-limiting or incurable illness.
Group support with Zest X-Change – a monthly evening social group for young adults 14 years upwards, a monthly parent support group and a monthly Saturday family drop in session.
Regular proactive 6 monthly clinical reviews with a doctor or nurse, and access to the hospice multi-disciplinary team. Discussions of each person at a multidisciplinary meeting on a regular basis.
Development of emergency care plans and other care plans to guide all health and social care professionals in the individualized management of the young adult.
Residential short break weekends for those aged 18 and above.
Zest Days – themed activities every Friday at St Elizabeth Hospice for those aged 18 and above.
Support from our OneCall advice phone line out of hours which includes consultant support – call the team on: 0800 567 0111
Transition nurse coordination support for young adults living with life-limiting or incurable illness.
Group support with Zest X-Change – a monthly evening social group for young adults 14 years upwards, a monthly parent support group and a monthly Saturday family drop in session.
Residential short break weekends for those aged 18 and above.
Zest Days – themed activities every Friday for those aged 18 and above.
Group support with Zest X-Change – a monthly evening social group for young adults 14 years upwards, a monthly parent support group and a monthly Saturday family drop in session.
We are working together with East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) and other adult hospices in Norfolk to provide a monthly family drop-in that rotates around Norfolk.
Zest is currently hosting sessions at the Louise Hamilton Centre in Great Yarmouth.
The drop-in aims to support young adults transitioning from children’s services, as well as enabling a provision for young adults and their families. It will also provide an opportunity for people to help shape the future of support for families in Norfolk as we are keen to listen, learn and feed back to commissioners.
EACH are the coordinating partner on this provision, so head to their website to find out more here.
We are hoping to expand Zest services further into Great Yarmouth & Waveney in the near future.
Zest is committing to ensuring we develop and improve the service in partnership with families.
Zest Voices provides a space for young adults and their families to have a say, share ideas and participate in projects. Everyone is welcome.
Quarterly meetings are held on rotation at:
2025 dates coming soon
could fund tea, coffee and biscuits for family drop-in days for Zest once a month
could fund a nurse for one hour during a Zest Short Break
could fund one day’s activity for young adults staying for a weekend break
could fund the cost to hire a wheelchair mini-bus, so young adults can go out on a trip during a weekend stay
Watch the video below to see the difference your donation can make to young adults & their families:
Find out more about the success of our Zest services in the below service evaluation reports from 2022, carried out by the University of Suffolk and Helen Finlinson, who originally developed Zest.
Subscribe to email newsletters or our printed bi-annual newsletter for the latest fundraising, events, retail, volunteering and news from St Elizabeth Hospice services.
