Family Newsletter
18 February 20
www.bluebellwood.org 01909 517 369
Bluebell Wood Dragonfly Families Facebook group
@Bluebellwoodch
Charity no. 1076958 Company no. 3809663
Welcome from Emma Hi everyone, To kickstart the first edition of our newsletter for 2018 we have decided to write a feature on Maxine Strong, who has supported us since her son, Lex, passed away at the hospice in 2013 from neuroblastoma. To find out more about Maxine please see page 5. If you would like to get involved in fundraising, or want to share your story, please give us a call on 01909 517 360. Many of you may also have seen our online Light up a Life dedication page last year, which pictured a lovely illustration of the hospice, and a night sky twinkling with stars above. The site was really popular and so we’re launching a new version in the Spring, featuring a clear blue sky with lots of colourful butterflies to choose from in memory of your child. You can find out more about the page on page 6. Following your feedback, we’re changing our sibling group slightly - so that we focus on important topics like resilience and emotional wellbeing in smaller, more regular, groups. You can read about these changes in more detail on page 7. As always, this is your newsletter, so if there’s anything you’d like to share or would like to see included, drop our Communications Team a line at marketing@bluebellwood.org. You can also connect with us on our Facebook Page for families - just search Bluebell Wood Dragonfly Families, and request to join the group. Wishing you all the best for 2018, Emma
A Forget-me-not ball to remember A Forget-Me-Not Ball - which was organised by some of our parents - has raised an incredible £9,702. Charlotte and Gareth Mayor, Kristina and Phil Booth, Dorcas and Paul Brown, Anna and Matt Muffett, Jo and Jonathan Tennick, Amanda Steele and Steve Morley and Claire Malcolmson organised the ball at the Holiday Inn in Rotherham. The evening featured close up magic from Afro Magic, a disco and a song written and sung by Amanda Steele, in memory of all Bluebell Wood children, including her son Roman. Amanda, her partner Steve and their children stayed in Bluebell Wood’s Forget-me-Not suite with Roman after he passed away in 2014 at just tenmonths-old. Amanda said: “We are over the moon that the Forget-Me-Not Ball raised so much. The evening was very much a celebration of all our babies’ lives and the friendships we have all built since then, which wouldn’t have happened without them. For Steve and me, Bluebell Wood gave us a time with Roman that we could not have had anywhere else.” Charlotte and Gareth Mayor’s daughter Elsa passed away at Bluebell Wood in 2015 after being diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy at just eight-months-old. Charlotte said: “Our bereavement group enjoyed organising the Forget-Me-Not Ball and it brought us closer arranging something so close to all our hearts. We all remember our children every day but it felt very poignant doing something in their names. We all think the night went brilliantly and we had wonderful feedback. We are all so proud of the amount raised, as we all know how much this will help Bluebell Wood.”
Care Team Update New Care Team roles and responsibilities
Catherine Jackson and Diane Hollingworth
Catherine Jackson is now our In-house Care Team Manager, and Diane Hollingworth is our Community Care Team Manager.
Emma Doughty - Head of Family Support & Wellbeing Services Emma Doughty is our Head of Family Support and Wellbeing Services. She’s responsible for the team supporting your family - including Sibling Support, Family Support, Activity Co-ordinators and Counsellors.
Amy Williams - Family Support Co-ordinator Amy Williams is our new Family Support Co-ordinator. Her role is to support all our families through their journey with Bluebell Wood to make sure every family gets the care they need. If you have any ideas or feedback on our activities, please contact Amy on 01909 517 360.
Amy Panton - Sibling Support Worker Amy Panton is the Sibling Support Worker here at the hospice. She is responsible for supporting the emotional wellbeing of all the siblings at Bluebell Wood. She also organises our Shooting Stars sibling groups. You can find out more about the planned changes to our sibling group on page 7.
Read on to meet some of our new faces, find out about some of our updated roles and responsibilities, and to learn more about our plans for the Parent Forum. If you have any questions please give us a call on 01909 517 369 or visit our Facebook Group, Bluebell Wood Dragonfly Families.
Meet our new team members
Since our last update we have had to say goodbye to Charlotte Firth, one of our Community Support Workers. You may still see Charlotte around, though, as she will continue to support us as a Bank Support Worker. Liz Webster, our previous Director of Care, has also left our team, and Nathan Bettany, our Music Therapist, has returned to his private work now that Caroline Anderson has returned from maternity leave. Over the past few months we have also welcomed two new staff members to our team; Nurse, Amie Caldwell, and Community Support Worker, Sherry Hant. Please say hello if you see them around the hospice or out in the community.
Our Parent Forum
Our Parent Forum is going from strength to strength. Many of you have come to the meetings, or given your feedback, so firstly we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s contributed. The next challenge for the group is to reach as many parents and carers as possible, so they are hoping to set up some coffee mornings in the coming months. These will be held in various places around our region, to make them as easy as possible for people to attend. If you know the perfect location for a meet up, or would like to host one, let Emma Doughty know on 01909 517 360.
Meet Maxine From dressing up as Disney characters, to dashing through clouds of colour at our Colour Dash, fundraising is a way for Maxine Strong to remember her son, Lex, and raise money for the hospice that cared for him at the end of his life. Lex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma - a rare form of childhood cancer - when he was just four years old. He underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but sadly his cancer continued to spread, and in December 2012 he passed away peacefully at Bluebell Wood. Maxine started raising money for Bluebell Wood at Lex’s funeral, and took part in our first every Colour Dash in 2013. She said, “I always describe the Colour Dash as ‘euphoric’; it’s a wonderful chance for Lex’s family and friends to come together and do something posiive. Lex would be so proud of us, and we’ll always do it for him.” Maxine, her daughter, Olivia, and her friends, also dress up as Olaf, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse at our Birthday Bash and Christmas party. Maxine said, “Lex always used to love fancy dress, so dressing up as Olaf means I can be close to him, while doing something small to help other children like Lex be happy. “Bluebell Wood is a very special place; I always feel warmth and love whenever I go back. Alexander battled for over three years and I know he was happy when he was there. I continue to visit and fundraise and always in a positive way as my inspirational son would want.”
Take on our Colour Dash!
Fancy joining Maxine at Rother Valley for our fifth Colour Dash on Saturday 28th April? We’d love to see lots of our families there to help make this year’s event even bigger and better than ever! If you want to get involved give us a call on 01909 517 360 or visit www.bluebellwood.org/colourdash.
Our new in memory page Many of you may have seen our online Light up a Life page last year, which featured a beautiful illustration of the hospice in silhouette, and a night sky twinkling with stars above. We created this so our families and supporters could dedicate a star to a loved one online, and leave a personal message too. The site was really popular, and because of this, we’re launching a new version in the Spring, featuring a clear blue sky with lots of colourful butterflies to dedicate in memory of your child. Like with the Light up a Life page, you’ll be able to search for a specific dedication by name, and view all the messages and dedications. We’re hoping to launch the new webpage at the beginning of March, and you will be able to find the page through our website. If you would like to keep updated about the page, join our Bluebell Wood Dragonfly Families Facebook group, or keep an eye out for our next newsletter.
There’s a very special garden, where the trees of memory grow. The air is full of butterflies, dancing to and fro. It’s a place of peace and beauty, where bright new hopes can start, It’s memory’s lovely garden, that soothes the hurting heart.
Changes to our sibling group Our Sibling Team provides one to one support for brothers and sisters at Bluebell Wood, and give them time to have fun, express themselves, and talk to other children and young adults who are going through similar things as them. Over the past few months we have been looking at our Shooting Stars sibling group to see how we can develop the service, to make sure we’re meeting the needs of the children and young people who attend the group. From the beginning of March, any new referrals for our new sibling service will go through Amy Panton, who is happy to discuss the support your child needs before they attend the group. The new group will be made up of a 10 week programme for siblings aged 5 and over, which will replace our monthly sibling groups. Each session will cover a topic like resilience, wellbeing, and social inclusion, while supporting siblings in a safe space. The groups will be small, with up to eight children or young people in each session, and will run fortnightly. Everyone will be given a journal at the start of the programme to record their journey, which is something they can keep at the end of the programme. We realise this is a big change, so we will continue to run activities in the school holidays, and we’d like to encourage you to get involved with hospice-wide events like our World Book Day Month in March, or our Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday April 1st. If you are interested in either of these events, please email our Digital Media Officer, Ewen Laycock on ewen.laycock@bluebellwood.org for more details. Amy will be sending out more information and a referral form soon (don’t worry you can re-refer to our ten week programme at any time during your journey with Bluebell Wood), but if you have any questions in the meantime please email amy@bluebellwood.org. Photo credit: Pixabay