Hospital Bereavement Resource Packs - Project Update
Our story:
When a loved one sadly becomes end of life in hospital, their friends and family can find themselves spending a lot of time in hospital too. From our experience over the past 15 years of working with bereaved families, we know the importance of providing opportunities for children and young people to talk about their feelings and emotions during this difficult time.
Whether a death is expected in hospital, or comes suddenly, having the right support in place helps children and young people to navigate what is happening, and the emotions this brings up.
Our idea for this project started forming in 2021, then conversations with some of the nurses on the McGregor Ward at Warwick Hospital brought our concept to life. It became clear that there was real need for resources available to healthcare professionals supporting a family through bereavement, and we knew we had the expertise to put something meaningful together.
Back in 2020, we launched our Bereavement Resource Packs for schools. A project to ensure teaching and pastoral staff have access to a variety of books, activities and guidance. To date, we have delivered almost 250 packs to primary and secondary schools across Coventry and Warwickshire, transforming the advice and support we could offer in the educational sector. This got us thinking, could we create something bespoke for the healthcare sector too?
Our project:
With thanks to fundraising from the Royal Leamington Spa Rotary Club, we were able to bring our ideas into action. After a lot thought and consideration from the Guy’s Gift team, we developed our Bereavement Support Pack.
We decided that the packs were for the family to be given whilst on the hospital ward, and to have the opportunity to take them home with them. They are designed to ensure that no child or young person has to face grief alone, by encouraging conversations with family, friends and healthcare professionals around them.
We have created a careful balance between promoting education around death and dying, along with an age-appropriate awareness and understanding of the feelings that come with this. We are also mindful of how precious certain moments can be, so the packs ensure that the child or young person has opportunities to capture the memories of their loved ones.
Our first set of packs were delivered to the McGregor Ward at Warwick Hospital in March 2024 by our team of volunteers at Electronic Arts (EA), based in Southam. Over the last year, it has been heartwarming to hear of how they have transformed the bereavement offer of the hospital. The success has a real community-feel to it, with thanks to our local volunteers and fundraisers, along with inspiring conversations with local nurses to ensure the packs were exactly what they children and young people needed.
Due to the initial success, we understood the importance of securing continued funding to reach other hospitals across Coventry and Warwickshire. We are delighted to share that Intercity Technology, who supported the new Sensory Garden at Warwick Hospital, were on-board when they heard about our project. They have decided to fund our desire to expand our Hospital Resource Pack project, both within Warwick Hospital and to other hospitals across Warwickshire.
Following a SWFT bereavement networking event, Guy’s Gift were able to develop connections with healthcare professionals based in University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW). After further conversations, it was decided that the next set of packs would be delivered to the children’s ward and the palliative care ward at UHCW. We are very much looking forward to seeing how this can continue to transform the bereavement support offer for children and young people visiting these wards.
Our future vision:
We are looking for donations to continue funding this incredibly important project. We know first-hand the difference this can make to bereaved children, young people and their families when they need our support most.
Our vision for our school based Bereavement Resource Pack is to ensure every single school across Coventry and Warwickshire receives a pack. So, why not shoot for the stars with this one too?
Could you be part of our story in ensuring all hospitals across Coventry and Warwickshire have access to a Bereavement Support Pack? Please get in touch below if you would like to discuss this further.
