Shooting Star’s bereavement service highly commended at Third Sector Awards

Shooting Star Children’s Hospices has been highly commended in the Breakthrough of the Year category at the prestigious Third Sector Awards 2024 for the ground-breaking expansion of our bereavement services.

These annual awards celebrate and recognise the work of charities and the difference they make to society. There are 32 categories rewarding sector partnerships, individual talent and organisational excellence. The Breakthrough of the Year category specifically showcases a new initiative, demonstrating significant progress and innovation.

Some of our Care team who deliver these vital services attended on behalf of the charity at the ceremony held on Friday 20 September, at The Royal Lancaster in London.

This high commendation highlights the charity’s dedication to providing wrap-around support to families of babies or children who have died suddenly, and not just those previously known to the charity, who have access to the expert and comprehensive bereavement care that we can provide to help cope with the death of a child.

This pioneering project to expand our bereavement care was launched in November last year and is available to families across Surrey, south-west London and north-west London. Since then, a huge number of families have been referred to Shooting Star for this service, who would not have access to bereavement support without them.

We have created a unique model of collaboration, working in partnership with statutory child death review teams, emergency departments and intensive care units to ensure families receive bespoke and tailored support. This includes specialist grief and trauma-focused therapeutic interventions as well as access to their specialist bereavement centre.

We surround each family with an expert network of support, and we have the daily privilege of seeing the impact of our care; care that time and time again families describe as a lifeline in their darkest moments.

Following the ceremony, Paul Farthing said, “Our specialist bereavement service is a core part of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices ambition and vision, and we are very proud to be recognised for this ground-breaking initiative. That so many families have accessed this bespoke specialist support since its launch is a real indication of the importance of the vital work we do and drives us to continue to deliver this care for families in the future.”

Sarah Hodkinson, Head of Psychosocial Services at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices said, “Shooting Star Children’s Hospices is thrilled to be awarded a high commendation for the work of our specialist bereavement service. It is so important we address the health inequalities that exist for families who experience the tragic death of their child. This new service is a breakthrough that opens the doors to expert children’s hospice care, so that every family can receive the specialist care they need.”

Our Family Support Team were also nominated for Frontline Team of the Year Award, and while not winning on this occasion, we are hugely proud to be nominated, which reflects the hard work the team have put in to developing this new, vitally needed service, and supporting families with a dedicated programme of holistic care.

Huge congratulations to winners GoodFaith and Medical Aid for Palestinians.