Colchester hospice recognised for end-of-life awareness and support campaign
St. Helena Hospice was given the Innovation in Dying Matters gong at the Hospice UK awards held in Liverpool.
Colchester-based St Helena Hospice has been recognised for their work to encourage conversations around end-of-life care and support and discussions around bereavement.
They picked up the award for 'Innovation in Dying Matters' at the Hospice UK awards held recently in Liverpool, for their Compassionate Communities project.
It was shared with St. Nicholas Hospice in Bury St. Edmunds, St. Elizabeth Hospice Ipswich, the University of East Anglia and The Pear Tree Clinic who were also involved in the program
Compassionate Communities aims to equip people with the tools to help others who need or are receiving end-of-life care and grief after death. Greg Cooper is the project lead and work with St. Helena Hospice.
He says: " We are working with all the members of a community, volunteers, different services like libraries, we've worked with schools and faith groups and raising awareness about what help is available out there to support people around end-of-life."
The hospice estimates that there will be an increasing number of people requiring palliative care around the country, as a result of an ageing population. They want to ensure that people in the community are provided with the skills, knowledge and resilience to support each other before and after end of life care.
Mr Cooper says it is important that people have the difficult conversations around death and bereavement: "It is vital to be compassionate to a person who may be suffering or grieving and try to understand what the person is going through.
"Don't be scared of getting it wrong. Your friend or family member would much rather you talk about it, at the risk of saying the wrong thing, than not bringing it up at all."
The recognition at the Hospice UK awards is an indication that they are approaching the issue in the right way, Mr Cooper explains: "There's doctors, nurses, retail staff, bereavement and therapy services, loads of volunteers and lots of other people involved in providing palliative care to people.
"This recognition from Hospice UK is a really good indicator that we're going down the right path."
For people in the areas mentioned who are interested in getting involved or learning about the project, he recommends looking up their local hospice: "Do get in touch with us about getting being part of our local networks.
All three hospices provide compassionate communities resources and will continue to do so for some time to come."
They also work with library services across Suffolk to help support and guide people on these matters as well.