Family Newsletter
February 20
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www.bluebellwood.org 01909 517 369
‘Bluebell Wood Families’ Facebook Group
@Bluebellwoodch Charity no. 1076958 Company no. 3809663
Welcome from Emma Hi everyone, Happy New Year! I hope those of you who came to our Christmas party enjoyed seeing Santa, or some of the very special guests that visited the hospice during December. From football players to pantomime dames, we had a fantastically festive December; and it was lovely to see so many of you enjoying the entertainment and all the smiling faces. Your family support team are busy planning all of this year’s events for Bluebell Wood children and siblings, and we’ve got lots of great ideas to make some fantastic memories in 2018. These include a month of stories and songs in March and an Easter Egg Hunt on April 1st. But that’s just the start of a wonderful year; turn to page 3 and 4 for details and watch this space for more exciting activities! From the start of April, we’ll also be changing our sibling group so that we can keep developing the service we provide for families. You can find out more on page 3. Since we last sent an update, there have been some changes to some of the roles and responsibilities of our Care Team. You’ll find more detail on these on page 5. 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 an email at marketing@bluebellwood.org. You can also connect with us on our Facebook Page for families - just search Bluebell Wood Families, and request to join the group. Wishing you all the best for 2018, Emma
Say hello to Caroline We’d like to say a huge ‘welcome back’ to Caroline Anderson, our Music Therapist, who has returned to Bluebell Wood after finishing her maternity leave. She is really excited to start building on Nathan Bettany’s fantastic work and reach more people who could benefit from music therapy. She said, “I’m so proud to work at Bluebell Wood. It’s great working with such an amazing Care Team, and knowing you’re making a difference to children and young people when they need it.” Music therapy is all about helping children and young people explore their thoughts and feelings, when words are hard to find. On an average day Caroline could see children or young people in the hospice, out in the community, or as part of a group. She might use songs, musical instruments, or improvisation to help children manage pain, engage with others, or deal with their emotions; whatever works best for each child. “I think of my job as therapy which works with music, not words. Using music is a great way to get a different perspective; I get to know each child or young person’s personality, and how I can support them and their needs.” Caroline also enjoys working with other members of our Care Team, as well as sharing ideas with other Music Therapists from across the region. She also runs our choir - which is open to families, staff, and volunteers - with Dominic, one of our volunteers. The next session will be on Wednesday 7th March (but you can keep up to date by visiting the Bluebell Wood Families Facebook Group). If you would like to find out more about being referred for music therapy - on a one-off or long term basis - please contact Caroline on 01909 517 360.
Save the date... Whether you want to hunt for Easter eggs or dash through clouds of colour at our Colour Dash, there’s so much to get involved in over the next few months!
‘Chat and Chill’ Drop in Activity Days
Our ‘Chat and Chill’ sessions - which take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10-3pm - are the perfect time to find out more about what we offer, and how we can support you. You’ll get the chance explore all our fantastic rooms and resources, and one of our Activity Co-ordinators will be on hand to answer any questions. There will also be plenty of activities that you can get involved in during your visit. From March 1st to March 11th we’ll be decorating Mother’s Day cards and gifts, and throughout May we’ll be holding an animal month filled with lots of themed activities. If you would like to come along, please call us on 01909 517 369 to let us know when you want to visit and if you’d like to stay for lunch.
Changes to the sibling group
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 events like our World Book Day Month and Easter Egg Hunt too! 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.
‘World Book Day’ Month
During March we’ll be celebrating World Book Day with a whole host of bookish themed activities and events, which you can take part in on our Tuesday and Thursday drop in days. We’ll also be holding a special fancy dress afternoon from 1pm - 4pm on Wednesday 28th March. There will be refreshments, stories and rhymes, a raffle, and a prize for the best dressed. Email Ewen Laycock on ewen.laycock@bluebellwood.org to let us know if you’d like to come (and tell us who you’ll be dressing up as).
Easter Egg Hunt
It’s that time of year again! On Sunday 1st April from 1:30pm - 4pm we’ll be holding our egg-citing Easter egg hunt here at the hospice. There’ll be lots of fun clues to solve, as well as a range of ‘cracking’ activities to get stuck in to, including arts and crafts, fancy dress, and face-painting. If you want to come along please email our Digital Media Officer, Ewen Laycock, on ewen.laycock@bluebellwood.org before 16th March. If we get a lot of interest in the day we will hold a draw.
Take on our Colour Dash
Our Colour Dash is heading back to Rother Valley for a fifth year running on Saturday 28th April and it’s going to be bigger and brighter than ever. This year there’s a new foam station too to make things even messier. We’d love to see lots of our families there; visit www.bluebellwood.org if you want to get involved, or to find out about our other funfilled events, like our Skydive or Dragonboat Race.
Care Team Update Meet our new team members
Since our last update we have said 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.
New roles and responsibilities
We’ve made a few changes to our Care Team, so we thought this would be the perfect chance to remind you of everybody’s roles and how they work together to help your family.
Catherine Jackson and Diane Hollingworth
Catherine Jackson is now our In-house Care Team Manager. She is responsible for the team looking after your child when you visit the hospice. Diane Hollingworth is our Community Care Team Manager. She is responsible for the Community Team working in your home. Our Community team are Mandy Binney, Mary-Ellen Scanlon, Sarah Longmire, Katie Hunt and Sherry Hant. If your child needs, or already has, short breaks with us, or you have any questions about our support in the community, please get in touch.
Read on to meet some of our new faces, and to find out about some of our updated roles and responsibilities. If you have any questions please give us a call on 01909 517 369 or visit our Facebook Group, Bluebell Wood Families.
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 3.
Debs Bryce - Care Team Secretary Debs Bryce is our Care Team Secretary. Contact Debs if you’d like to book in for a stay at the hospice. If you have extra purchased CCG nights, call Debs and she can take the details and pass them on to our referral and assessment panel.
Get involved in our activities With so many events throughout the year, we want to make sure that everyone has a chance to make some wonderful memories. Please take a moment to tell us what activities you’d be interested in, and return it to us in the FREEPOST envelope provided. Your name: Full name of child: Full name of siblings (and ages):
Would you be interested in receiving text messages about upcoming events, hospice visits, and things you need to know? Yes No Would you like to sign up to family e-newsletters, where you can keep up to date with all our latest news, upcoming events, and activities? Yes No Email: At Bluebell Wood, we keep your contact details securely on our database. If you’d like to update or remove your details at any time, please contact Melanie Hunt, our Information and ICT Officer, on 01909 508 111 or email melanie.hunt@bluebellwood.org. Are there any particular activities that you and your child would like to hear about?
Disney Princesses Superheroes
Music and singers
Cars and motorbikes
Plays and pantomines
Dancers and performers
Celebrity visits Seasonal hospice events
Football teams (which team do you support?)
Photo credit: Pixabay
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