10 reasons Forget Me Not Children's Hospice are different

10 reasons Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice are different

As you will know we are a super proud supporter of this amazing charity & the work they do.

If you don’t know a lot about them, here’s 10 reason’s they’re a bit different;

1. Their services start from pregnancy & go through to age 19
2. They’re pioneering: they recruited Europe’s first children’s hospice midwife to support families from the 20 week pregnancy scan, through birth & beyond. She is still the only one of her kind in the UK
3. Their dedicated SUDIC support key worker is the first ever in the UK to provide support to families experiencing the sudden & unexpected death of a child
4. They provide high quality nurse-led care
5. They support the family, not just the child
6. Families can refer themselves: they don’t have to be referred by a GP or hospital
7. They continue to support families, even after the death of the child
8. Almost all of their services can be delivered in families’ own homes as well as at the hospice
9. Everything they do is provided free to families
10. They are rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, putting them in the top 1% of all UK health & social care providers.

Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice have supported hundreds of families since they opened, families like Taniesha’s…

Taniesha’s story

At just four years old, Taniesha has faced more challenges than most of us will have to cope with in an entire lifetime. Diagnosed with a congenital heart condition before birth, she also has Downs Syndrome and has undergone a number of serious heart and bowel operations. She tires easily and can’t do as much as other children. Despite it all though, according to her mum Lisa, “she’s full of life and loves dancing and music!”

Forget Me Not has been supporting Lisa and her family since before Taniesha was born. “They were involved right from the start,” she says. “They came to my antenatal appointments and helped break down what the doctors were telling us so we could understand. It was a scary time, and Forget Me Not provided the emotional support we needed. They still do.”

From being a safe place for Taniesha to play: “I don’t feel she’s restricted in what she can do here and everyone understands what she needs,” to being a safe place for Taniesha to stay: “when she stays at the hospice for the night I know I can fully relax,” to being there for Taniesha’s older sister too: “Lucy had play therapy which helped her understand why we couldn’t always do what she wanted to do,” Forget Me Not’s been an important fixture in Lisa’s family life. And we’re always at the end of the phone. “Every time I have an issue, they’re the first people I call. They help explain things, they understand my state of mind and they don’t judge, they just get it.”

“Forget Me Not’s been there throughout and I don’t think, emotionally, we’d have coped otherwise.”

You can find out more about this wonderful charity & how you can support them here.