Children and young people don’t always articulate their feelings verbally, so as a Hospice, we have a responsibility to help children to express themselves in whatever way is most appropriate to them.
Our Children’s Bereavement Team can help children and young people to make some sense of illness and loss using a range of activities and therapies.
The Jigsaw Project at St Cuthbert’s Hospice is a counselling service especially for children and young people who have experienced grief, loss and bereavement. This may be because of life-limiting illnesses and palliative care or an unexpected or sudden death including suicide, road traffic accidents and murder.
Please note we have a change to our referral criteria as of 1st August 2024, see below
Children and young peoples' counselling is available pre and post bereavement for children aged 5-17 years old through The Jigsaw Project.
We offer bereavement counselling to children and young people in County Durham who have been affected by:
- A life-limiting illness and palliative care (with a minimum of 6 months since death occurred)
- Family member deaths (with a minimum of 6 months since death occurred)
- Unexpected or sudden death including suicide, road traffic accidents and murder
As part of our triage, we may signpost your referral on to specialist services.
For general enquires about Children's Bereavement Support please call 0191 386 1170 option 9 or contact the team by email thejigsawproject@stcuthbertshospice.com. Referrals must be made securely via email to NECNE.StCuthbertsHospiceReferrals@nhs.net.
Summer Fun at our Jigsaw Day 🎪 🎡
The start of the school holidays saw some of the children and young people who have used our Children and Young People’s Bereavement Service, the Jigsaw Project, join us here at the Hospice for another fun-filled activity day!
The theme of the day was ‘Carnival/Circus’ and the group enjoyed painting canvases and decorating masks with glitter and stickers, painting plastic ornaments and making paper decorations. They were even treated to some candy floss to take home as well as prizes from our ‘have a go’ tombola.
The children and young people who use our bereavement counselling service usually meet with one of our counselling team on a one-to-one basis for support, so this was a chance to get together with others who have benefited from our service, spending time together for a lively afternoon of play and crafts.
Our Bereavement Support Counselling Team who hosted the day, told us:
“The day flew by and it was fantastic to see the children absorbed in creative activities throughout the day. Some of the adults chose to get creative too and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
This is the second Jigsaw Project family fun day we have been able to organise this year, and we feel it was a resounding success, with more children and their families coming to meet each other, network, and have some fun together.
It was a fantastic day, the young people had so much fun, as did many of the parents/guardians, who we noticed were getting into the crafting activities and contributing as well, perhaps revisiting their inner child.
The Jigsaw Days are a way for our service users to form positive experiences with people who are of a similar age group who are dealing with bereavement, adding to their support circle. We also had some young people returning back after our last Jigsaw Day, which was lovely to see.”
The Jigsaw Project works with Children and Young People who have experienced bereavement. We have a specially designed children’s and young person’s area in the Hospice where our experienced counsellors can help children and young people through difficult times. This service is open to referrals from the whole of County Durham and is available to any child aged 5-17 affected by anticipatory grief, grief/loss and bereavement relating to family, relatives and friends.
Referrals to the Jigsaw Project can be made by self-referral from a parent or family member, school, primary health care team, GP’s, mental health care teams or social workers.
Easter Activities at our Jigsaw Project Day
In the Easter holidays we were able to welcome some of the children and young people who use our Children and Young People’s Bereavement Service, The Jigsaw Project to the Hospice, for an Easter Activity Day.
Activities included painting and drawing, face-painting, the opportunity to make Easter cards and crafts and even an Easter-themed Rubik’s cube to solve! Whilst clients usually meet our counselling team on a one-to-one basis for support, this was a chance for the children, young people and their families to meet others who have benefitted from our service, spending time together for a fun afternoon of play and crafts. Our Guest Services team kindly provided a delicious packed lunch and everyone was able to take home an Easter Egg to enjoy, with thanks to a kind donation by staff at Bako Group’s Langley Moor Offices.
Our Counselling Team told us more about the day:
“It was a delight to see service users of the Jigsaw Project and their parents meeting each other and networking.
When someone (particularly a young person) is grieving, it can feel like one of the loneliest times in a person’s life, so to meet others who are struggling too can be a tremendous comfort.
It was also great to see everyone getting stuck in, with some people getting involved in every craft activity and others who made some really impressive artwork. We were even able to set up an ad-hoc face-painting station!
The combined efforts of the Bereavement Support, Fundraising and Guest Services Teams all served to provide a fun day for the young people and their families. We look forward to planning for the next one in the summer.”
The Jigsaw Project works with children and young people who have experienced bereavement. We have a specially designed children’s and young person’s area in the Hospice where our experienced counsellors can help children and young people through difficult times. This service is open to referrals from the whole of County Durham and is available to any child aged 5-17 affected by anticipatory grief, grief/loss and bereavement relating to family, relatives and friends.
Referrals to the Jigsaw Project can be made by self-referral from a parent or family member, school, primary health care team, GP’s, mental health care teams or social workers.
