Our Support Hub lists services currently available to supported families.
If you would like more information, contact Family Support on 01483 230 974 / familysupport@shootingstar.org.uk
Last updated 30/06/2022.
If you need us, we are there. Our Family Support Line is available Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm.
Whether you are currently accessing overnight stays or not, talk to us about how we may be able to help you.
Overnight stays are currently accessible at Christopher's.
Our Specialist Nursing Teams are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. They provide expert medical care in person and over the phone.
The Sensory Room at Shooting Star House is available for families to book. One of the most popular rooms in the hospice, it is equipped with a musical floor, fibre optics, mirrors, lights, bubble tubes and a waterbed.
The Arts and Crafts room at Shooting Star House is available for families to book for a fun and paint-filled messy session, or simply time to relax on a beanbag, read children’s books, play, and enjoy our resources.
Our team of experienced and fully qualified counsellors can offer you support via telephone, online or in person. Individual parents and couples can seek advice and / or regular, confidential counselling sessions.
Our team of experienced and fully qualified children’s psychological therapists can offer support direct to your child or sibling through a series of sessions, or help guide you in supporting them.
Supported children, siblings and parents can benefit from complementary therapies at Shooting Star Children's Hospices. This includes in-person treatments, or virtual sessions and consultations with our specialist Complementary Therapist.
Children and families can now book sessions in the hydrotherapy pool at Christopher's and Shooting Star House using our online booking system.
We have created these resources and help sheets especially for our families.
We can post an activity pack to your home. Suitable for supported children and siblings of all ages and abilities. Packs can be tailored considering interests, abilities, and materials you have at home.
Many of our families find it helpful to know about the support we provide to a family when their child dies. Our Bereavement Support Hub holds a wealth of information about how we care for and support families at this time.
Our Family Support Team can facilitate a hospital sitting session if your supported child is in hospital for a prolonged stay.
We provide an assortment of online and in-person groups and events at our two hospice sites, venues off-site and online using virtual platforms. These are tailored for supported children, their siblings, parents, and grandparents.
Our Family Support Workers can provide a set of 2-6 interactive sessions for supported children, supported siblings, or bereaved siblings who might benefit from this one-to-one time.
Catch-up meetings give you the opportunity to talk to us in detail about how things are going and find out what services or support is available.
If you know someone in need of our help, a family or anyone involved with a family can make a referral. The first step is to contact us.
We provide end-of-life care through our dedicated Care Team who offer expert medical and nursing care, either at Christopher's or in the home, 24 hours a day.
When a child dies, we provide a dedicated area at our Christopher's hospice, with a room where a child can lay at rest. We can also provide cold blankets and cuddle cots for families who would like their child to be at home.
The accessible playground and garden is available for supported children, siblings, and families to use at Shooting Star House.
Our physiotherapist can provide sessions for supported children staying at Christopher's, in-person sessions at Shooting Star House, and telephone and online advice to parents at home.
For families in need, we can provide vouchers to use in a local food bank close to where you live.
Be matched with a legally trained expert who can provide free legal advice and support when legal duties, owed to the children and families, are not being fulfilled.
We can help organise and access experiences enabling a child’s wish to be fulfilled.
For young people moving from children’s services into adult services this time can be very scary, challenging, and confusing. Our Transition Coordinator can help the young person and their parents navigate these changes.
Our Parent User Group is an informative, safe space for sharing ideas, views and experiences about different aspects of our care.
Hundreds of families supported by us have kindly helped raise funds for Shooting Star Children's Hospices over the decades. If you would like more information about fundraising for us or would like to share your plans, please contact our Fundraising team.
Overnight stays and day time Family Support Services are currently accessible at Christopher's. Due to the pandemic, please review the following guidelines before visiting Christopher's hospice in Guildford.
Day time family support services are accessible at Shooting Star House. Due to the pandemic, visitor guidelines are in place. Please read before visiting Shooting Star House in Hampton.
We understand the financial challenges families living with a child with a life-limiting conditions may face and recommend and source organisations that can help.
As a family with a life-limiting child, did you know you can access social care support? Our Social Workers can help you with a referral to help access more support for your family.
Here are some useful links to websites and resources to help you take care of wellbeing and mental health during the pandemic. There are links that may help you and your children.
Find local services in your area specifically for families of children with complex needs and disabilities.
We support families from all faith backgrounds. All religious leaders are welcomed at the hospice for visits and can support you in your faith and with any questions you may have.
We recognise spirituality means different things to different people and we want to make sure everyone feels comfortable with the hospice care they receive.
Free digital book explaining coronavirus to children illustrated by Gruffalo illustrator, Axel Scheffler, or play the audio book version narrated by Hugh Bonneville.
There are a lot of organisations that provide useful information to families, like yours, who have a child with a life-limiting condition.
List of resources and fantastic activities to keep children entertained at home from the Science Museum, Cosmic Yoga Kids YouTube channel and many, many more.
Music is so important to the children and siblings we support. Here are some apps to help children express how they feel.
