Our bereavement services include face to face counselling with qualified counsellors or for those who just need to talk we run weekly bereavement groups at our Hospice Centre where families can share their experiences and support one another.
We know groups don’t suit everyone and so if you need somebody to listen we have a team of trained volunteers who are at the end of the phone. If there’s an anniversary this month, or you’re having a bad day you can call into our centre, have a cuppa and find the support you need to get through the day.
Beareavement Coffee Mornings
Once a month at City Hospice we welcome the family members of our patients to a special coffee morning just for them. The counselling service for City Hospice was introduced in 2005, and is available for patients and families as well as bereaved family members and friends. Some people said whilst they didn’t want or need counselling they felt they would benefit from simply meeting up with other people who were going through the same experience.
Our bereavement coffee mornings are held to help individuals cope with their feelings of grief, amongst a group of individuals who share similar experiences of loss. A qualified experienced counsellor is present at all times along with volunteers who help facilitate the group.
This service is available on a monthly basis throughout the year and is held in the City Hospice Centre. People may attend for up to two years after the bereavement and are encouraged to form friendship groups for continued support where desired. Where a person’s needs may change and they feel counselling may be helpful they can refer for this level of support while attending the coffee morning and an appointment can be offered.
Having someone to talk to is so important. Our coffee mornings provide a safe space to talk, laugh and cry, amongst a welcoming group of people.
Children’s Bereavement Services
Our Counsellors offer support to families on how to help prepare children for the death of a loved one and can offer pre-bereavement counselling to the child. We offer families tools such as memory boxes for a parent, grandparent or sibling to fill together.
These sessions gives the children tools such as memory stones to help them deal with their grief. The opportunity to talk to children of their own age going through the same experience is invaluable and feedback from the children is usually along the lines of ‘I was relieved when I realised I wasn’t the only one’.
