St Giles Hospice: Connecting care in our communities

Why would a hospice and a football team work together?

Well, St Giles Hospice in Lichfield believes developing and maintaining partnerships with local organisations are crucial to ensure people know about and access the hospice’s services.

Ian Leech was appointed community engagement manager in July 2013 and freely admits that he has the best job in the hospice because connecting and bringing people together are integral to his role.

Engagement around death, dying and bereavement

Supporting the theme of ‘Connecting Care’ for Hospice Care Week 2015, St Giles hosted the event ‘Connecting care in our communities’. It was a day of recognition for the relationships Ian has helped to build within the community, with time spent learning how these partnerships were forged and continue to thrive.

Ian welcomed us by speaking about why community engagement is necessary and what the term means to him.

When first in post, Ian realised that generally people are hesitant to discuss death, dying and bereavement.

In order to engage people on these topics, St Giles installed a ‘Before I die…’ board where people could write something they wanted to achieve before dying. This was followed by an ‘I want to be remembered for…’ board.

As a result people became much more open to discussing these topics and St Giles found increasing amounts of literature on death, dying and bereavement being taken by the public. Now around 100 pieces are picked up per month.

Wellbeing programme

Residents from Bromford, Trent and Dove Housing partake in St Giles’ twelve week wellbeing programmes, which include group exercise sessions and guest speakers on topics such as eating well, home safety and bereavement.

The programme has been well received, with a noticeable increase in community atmosphere and spirit as the programme progresses and further social clubs often spring up as a result.

Caring for your car, caring for our community

Next in the day was the corporate partnership between Tempest Ford garage and St Giles – necessary, Ian stated, because traditional fundraising alone will no longer sustain the majority of hospices.

The business unit of St Giles runs a weekly lottery which, over the years, has built a large database of people who support the hospice. Tempest Ford has their own business database and the idea to share contacts and marketing programmes has been a successful one.

Tempest Ford now offers a £100 donation to St Giles for every person on the hospice database who buys a car from them.

Stronger Together

Phoenix is a bereavement and loss support service for children and young people in the St Giles catchment area.

In February 2015 the ‘Stronger Together’ initiative was launched along with the release of a moving film produced by the young people using the service. The film highlights the importance of support when affected by bereavement as well as the services Phoenix provides.

The aim of the initiative is to promote resilience in communities by working in tandem with local schools, other organisations and families of bereaved children. This is achieved through provision of information, a peer support group, one-to-one counselling and family group counselling, as well as training to schools and professionals in how to support a bereaved young person.

Advanced care planning

Alzheimer’s Society is a partner of St Giles in advanced care planning. The hospice initially helped the staff of the Alzheimer’s Society develop confidence to facilitate conversations around death, dying and bereavement.

Building on their success, they are setting up a dementia clinic together in Uttoxeter and will be piloting a monthly programme at the Holly Road Clinic until February, also linking with the local care home nearby.

Community, information, support, advice

Bereavement Help Points offer a ‘no appointment necessary’ drop-in service for those who want immediate advice on emotional, practical and social support. The first was run by volunteers, who saw around twelve people a week.

After Ian introduced two other organisations – Dove Service and Cruse Bereavement Care – to the Help Point model of support, seven branches are now operational and three others are in the pipeline.

The Dove Service provides counselling and support to the bereaved, those with a life-changing illness and those who’ve experienced significant losses. St Giles worked with them on a carers’ project to identify hidden carers within the workplace and set up bereavement support groups. There are plans to expand into services for children and young people as well as those with learning disabilities.

Cruse Bereavement Care is a national charity which trains volunteers to provide advice, information and support to those who have been bereaved.

The Help Points often result in social groups which combat social isolation through friendships and peer support. They also provide training and skill development opportunities for volunteers.

Move it or lose it

Age UK, Burton described their numerous campaigns to promote ease of life and social inclusion for the elderly – from lunch clubs to financial aid and holidays to information services.

They have recently been working at Holly Road Clinic with St Giles in Uttoxeter to promote wellbeing. The partnership includes exercise classes which have become so over subscribed that an extra day a week has been added to the timetable.

Holiday sports camps

Burton Albion Community Trust is the charitable arm of Burton Albion Football Club and promotes health and inclusion for all ages from sport in schools to over 50s clubs.

They explained how the death of a colleague had prompted them to access St Giles’ bereavement support training for their staff. As a result, they offer summer football camps and mixed holiday camps specifically for bereaved young people which have been extremely popular.

The club continues to partner with St Giles by referring any bereaved young people they meet through their work to the bereavement service.

Social inclusion

The Whittington Computer Group was the first to link itself to St Giles’ Hospice. It started as a support network for bereaved family members and people who have suffered a stroke.

The idea was to combine a social group with the learning of computing skills, which could then be used by people to connect with friends and family via Skype. The hospice provided a place for them to hold meetings and the St Giles Computer Social Group was born.

Not long after, a second group was formed with the focus on arts and crafts and the name of Crafty Pals. This group continues to combat social isolation by meeting once a week. Additionally, they have generated £800 for St Giles through gift shop sales.