When a child is very ill, the whole family is affected.
Our Family Support Team works alongside the care and community teams to provide holistic care for the entire family.
Social work
Our social worker can advise families on practical and financial matters, as well as providing emotional support.
Many families have worries about things such as benefits, housing, schooling and future care. Our social worker can help by providing relevant information and liaising with other agencies if the family wishes. They will also help families deal with the emotional and psychological consequences of caring for a child with a life-limiting illness.
After a child has died, our social worker will continue to offer bereavement support to the whole family.
Sibling support
We also focus on the needs of brothers and sisters of children referred to us. Inevitably, healthy brothers and sisters can feel left out as their parents focus on the sick child. They may experience feelings of guilt, anxiety or neglect and it is important they receive specialised support to help them address these feelings.
One-to-one support and sibling support groups are two of the services we offer to help siblings.
The Sparklers Club - This is a pre- and post-bereavement sibling support group for children aged 5-12 running every 2 months on a Saturday from 10am-1pm. Activities are provided by trained staff to help children explore this sensitive issue.
The work of our sibling care coordinator is supported by trained volunteers. If you would be interested in helping in this way, please see our volunteering pages for more information.
