Shooting Star Children’s Hospices is proud to share that they have won not one, but two prestigious awards at the 2024 Care Awards by Business Awards UK. The charity’s Family Support team won Best Family Liaison Team, while Shooting Star Children’s Hospices was honoured with the title of Best Palliative Care Provider.
This annual award event celebrates excellence in the care sector, recognising organisations and individuals who go above and beyond to make a positive impact on the lives of those they serve. The awards shine a light on the unwavering dedication, innovation and significant contributions of trailblazers in the health and social care sector.
These two awards recognise the high-quality wrap-around care Shooting Star Children’s Hospices provide to support families who have a baby, child or young person with a life-limiting condition, or who have been bereaved, across Surrey, south-west London and north-west London. Whether lives are measured in days, weeks, months, or years, they are here to make every moment count.
Paul Farthing, Chief Executive of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, said, “At Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, every member of the team plays a vital role in delivering care and support for children, young people and their families. These awards are a tribute to their hard work, professionalism and commitment, and everyone should feel hugely proud of the difference they make every day to the lives of those who use our services.”
Shooting Star’s Family Support team ensure each family receives a truly individualised pathway of care. The team consists of family support workers, arts therapists, trauma therapists, complementary therapists, counsellors, social workers, transition team, and an events team. They bring their expertise together to plan co-ordinated programmes of psychosocial care that help families in crisis, at end-of-life or when their child dies. Currently around 15-20 families seek help each week and carefully individualised, creative, and flexible programmes of care are delivered at the hospices, in family homes and in hospitals, allowing the support to be given where and when the families need it. This workforce stays with the family from the point of referral through the three years and three months after a child dies, providing a much-needed safety net of emotional and practical support.
Shooting Star recently expanded their specialist bereavement service to reach families who experience the sudden, unexpected and often unimaginably tragic death of their child. Since November, 60 families have been referred and are receiving Shooting Star’s bespoke support. These are families who would otherwise not have access to bereavement care.
Paul Farthing, Chief Executive of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, said, “Shooting Star Children’s Hospices is really proud of our excellent Family Support team. We hear every day from families about the impact the team has on the lives of life-limited children and their loved ones. The team is a core part of our promise to be there for every family that loses a child in our area, and to provide amazing support to families that include a very vulnerable child and the life-limited young people transitioning to become adults.”
Lisa Dennis, Director of Care at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, said, “This award recognises the excellence of our organisation and the individuals who provide direct care to those who need us at the worst time in their lives. We go above and beyond to ensure our families are supported in a way that is meaningful. As Director of Care, I see the positive impact of our work daily and feel enormously proud of our workforce and organisation.”
Sarah Hodkinson, Head of Psychosocial Services at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, said, “This award is a wonderful way to celebrate the extraordinary work of this team. This is a proud moment they so deserve. Every day the team strive to make things feel just a little easier for families, with the utmost care and great skill. When the team learned that families were missing out on receiving any care and support in their grief, they leapt into new and unknown areas of work to make sure families are not left on their own. It takes a special kind of person to be there for families in the worst moments in their life. It takes a special kind of team to have achieved what they have this year.”
For further information, spokespeople or high-resolution images please contact Aimee Royle at aimee.royle@shootingstar.org.uk or 07794 074732