Compassionate Communities is here to support people in your local community.
We give you the tools to help others – whether it be at work, through community events or supporting a neighbour or loved one going through a bereavement.
By supporting each other, we can help bring confidence to difficult conversations and help people at the end of their life.
Bringing local residents, schools, businesses, groups and healthcare services together, Compassionate Communities is a network to promote and support kindness, friendship and a collaborative approach to caring for one another at times of health crisis and personal loss.
Compassionate Communities aims to:
Compassionate Workplaces is a free 2 hour awareness training session focused on helping employers support their workforce when experiencing loss and bereavement.
Free training aimed at helping people build the skills & confidence to enable open, honest and sensitive conversations around end-of-life, loss and bereavement, whilst identifying ways to help and support others.
Discover Compassionate Community groups to help with your grief. From walks, visiting cafés to light gardening, find something to suit you.
The Felixstowe Friends of St Elizabeth Hospice have generously contributed to the installation of plaques on four new bereavement benches, enhancing the support available to those experiencing loss or grief in the local community.
Officially opened on 20 September, these benches are located in a Victorian shelter at the end of Orford Road, two close Bent Hill, and one on Brook Lane.
The bereavement benches are designed as public symbols of acknowledgment for grief, offering a reflective space in an open setting.
Hosted in partnership with Home Instead, Grove Court Care Home and St Elizabeth Hospice, Compassionate Garden Group launched in May 2024 with the aim of providing support to members of the community, in and around Woodbridge, who are who are involved in long term care provoking pre-bereavement grief.
The free-to-attend group meets every fourth Wednesday of the month, between 10am and 1pm at Grove Court in Woodbridge, with bereavement helpers on hand to provide support if needed.
Compassionate Garden Group provides an opportunity for people living through similar experiences to meet one another as they carry out light gardening activities, have conversation and enjoy all-important cups of tea and cake, boosting mental and physical health, as well as wellbeing in the process.
As part of an artwork installation, funded by the Central Area Committee, St Elizabeth Hospice asked the local Ipswich community to open up conversations about death, loss and grief.
Located opposite DanceEast, on St Peter’s Dock, the chalkboard installation encouraged the local community to write, in chalk provided, their ambitions for that they wish to do before they die, in a ‘bucket list’ style piece of art.
St Elizabeth Hospice worked with Suffolk Libraries to launch new book collections to support people through bereavement.
The dedicated Bereavement Bookshelves are located at Stowmarket, Framlingham, Lowestoft, Ipswich, Southwold, Hadleigh, Rosehill, Broomhill and Chantry Libraries.
The books have been carefully selected by Suffolk Libraries’ stock team and have been provided by St Elizabeth Hospice thanks to funding from the East of England Co-op.
The books cover a range of subjects related to bereavement and compassion and are appropriate for a range of ages with some devoted to helping children and young people understand grief and loss.
Launched in September 2021, by hospice volunteers and our LivingGrief bereavement service, Walk On gives those who have been bereaved the opportunity to meet new people, talk about shared experiences and offer support to one another, while enjoying a sense of wellbeing brought by walking in the outdoors.
Walk On is free & open to anyone who is bereaved in Suffolk. Head to Walk On to find the latest dates and information.
Click on the links below to go to third party sites which are recommended by St Elizabeth Hospice:
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