09 Feb 2021
Children and bereavement
Advice from the NHS including making memory boxes, and where to access further support.
Bereavement Support
The care of St Catherine’s doesn’t stop when a loved one has died – we’re here to support loved ones through bereavement, and to provide opportunities for our community to remember and reflect together.
Bereavement support is offered through all of our community and hospice-based teams and involves various different people including doctors, nurses, social workers, volunteer chaplains and volunteer counsellors.
It’s important to remember that there is no set timescale for bereavement and everyone’s experience is different. The Bereavement Support Team therefore provides a number of different ways to help, working either on a one-to-one basis or in a group – whichever people feel best meets their needs.
Bereavement Support Drop-in
Our monthly bereavement drop-in is open to everyone; not only those with a connection to the hospice.
The group provides mutual support to bereaved people and is an opportunity to speak with the St Catherine’s Support Team and others in your community.
It is held on the second Wednesday of the month from 1.30pm until 2.30pm in the hospice’s Garden Room. Please make sure to email supportteam@stcatherines.co.uk or call 01772 629171 for updates if you would like to attend.
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Here’s what people say about our bereavement drop-in sessions:
“It’s helpful speaking with people who know what you’re going through. It’s very informal; you can talk about your grief and experiences, or you can just have general conversations, it depends how you’re feeling.”
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from the bereavement group and I was a bit nervous the first time I went. The idea of expressing my feelings to strangers seemed daunting but everyone was so welcoming and the Support Team really put me at ease.”
“I realised that all the feelings that I was experiencing were the same as everyone else in the room, and it was a place where I could express my emotions freely. It was an environment where nobody was judged and everybody got a chance to speak if they wanted to, or to just listen.”
Bereavement therapy group
This is a ‘closed’ group which means that once the group has started no one else can join. This brings a sense of stability and reassurance to members.
A new group is established annually and bereaved people known to the hospice and local palliative care teams are invited. It runs for seven sessions on a fortnightly basis and is facilitated by the hospice’s social workers and in conjunction with Vine House, another local charity in Preston.
The sessions take the form of structured meetings in that each has a theme relating to bereavement and general well-being. It offers members the opportunity to explore grief in a safe, supportive environment.
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Bereavement counselling
Bereavement counselling can be provided if requested.
The Hospice is an organisational member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and we also have volunteer counsellors who give their time to support our families and loved ones.
If you declined Bereavement Support at the time of your loved one’s death but now feel you need some support, please contact the hospice and ask to speak to the Support Team.
Remembrance and reflection
We want our community to feel welcome to visit the hospice grounds of St Catherine’s Park at any time, particularly as a place where family and friends can come to remember their loved ones. There is also a dedicated tributes section on our website where people can honour the memory of someone special by writing messages and sharing photographs, and raising money for our charity in their memory if they wish. Please click here if you would like to create a tribute page in someone’s memory.
We also organise a number of events throughout the year which are opportunities for people to join together in remembrance and reflection. We hope this helps people feel less alone in their loss, whilst also doing something positive to support St Catherine’s.
Our remembrance events include:
- Light Up A Life each December – when the festive lights around St Catherine’s Park symbolise the lives of those who will be missing from our Christmas celebrations.
- Yellow Ribbons each June – when yellow ribbons are tied around the grounds in memory of loved ones.
- The Moonlight and Memories Walk each June/July – when supporters stride out under the stars in memory of their loved ones, raising vital sponsorship for St Catherine’s with every step.
Bereavement benefits
Bereavement benefits are available to some widows/widowers and civil partners, dependent on both whether you are below state pension age, and on the deceased person’s national insurance contributions.
If you have difficulties with funeral expenses there is financial help available via the Social Fund called a Funeral Grant, dependent on if you are in receipt of certain benefits.
There is a time limit for claiming bereavement benefits and funeral grants and it would be beneficial to take advice from your local job centre as soon as possible, as a delay may disqualify you from claiming.
Also, when someone dies in your household and they are in receipt of state benefits – inclusive of retirement pensions – it may be that you need to have your own benefits reviewed, including housing benefit and council tax. We therefore suggest you seek advice from your local council, Welfare Rights, your local Job Centre, Pensions Service and Bereavement Advice Centre.
Bereavement support for children and young people
We work with Vine House in Preston to offer bereavement support to children and young people through the Stride project.
Using a variety of creative tools, along with one-to-one support from trained counselling staff, children and young people and their families are supported through dealing with their sadness and loss.
For further information, download the flyer here.
Resources
To see more useful resources for patients and families, please click here
09 Feb 2021
Keeping in touch when you can’t be with someone who is seriously ill
Ideas for parents with young children from the Lancashire & South Cumbria Children's Palliative Care Zonal Network, including recording or writing messages, connected hearts and more.
02 Feb 2021
Bereavement Support Sessions
Our monthly bereavement support sessions are open to all. They provide an opportunity to speak with our Support Team as well as people in similar circumstances to you, to share experiences and advice.
25 Nov 2020
St Catherine’s Hospice bereavement booklet
Practical advice and support including what to do first, registering a death, financial assistance, how to cope with your grief, talking to children about death, bereavement support networks, remembrance events, and more
25 Nov 2020
The Loss Foundation: Understanding Bereavement
Covering anger, anxiety and panic, depression, nightmares and flashbacks, sleep, and coping with grief
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