Our care and support

We provide an extensive range of counselling, therapies and support groups for the whole family including parents, siblings and grandparents – from music therapy and siblings’ days, to chill and chat groups and complementary therapy sessions. We also offer social work, including liaison with statutory service providers, and a transition service for young adults, and their families, who are transitioning into adult care.

Many of the children we support have very complex symptoms which may change over time, particularly towards the end of life. Our symptom management team and community nurses work to ensure families receive support in their preferred place of care – whether that’s at home, at our hospice or in hospital. At end of life our dedicated team work in collaboration with specialist teams at the Royal Marsden Hospital, Evelina London Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital to provide expert medical and nursing care.

Our specialist bereavement service allows families to access a personalised programme of care. We provide support to the whole family, considering the individual needs of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and grandparents. There are multiple different types of care and support a family can choose to receive for three years and three months after their child has died including counselling, creative therapies and tailored activities and events.

During respite stays, we aim to provide children and young people with a range of fun, sensory and therapeutic activities, while parents can choose to stay at the hospice to enjoy family time together or get a complete break. We know that things can’t always be planned and at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices we pride ourselves on our flexible care. We will always do our best to support a family in a crisis situation with emergency respite.