News

Due to the delivery costs incurred (especially with uniforms) it has been decided that in future, both uniforms and stationery will now be ordered once a month (unless the order is urgent).

This will be on the first Thursday of every month.

Please forward any stationery orders  to admin@derianhouse.co.uk, and signed authorised uniform request forms to be given to Admin in the usual way.

Many thanks for your assistance.

Hi everyone, hope that you’re all well and looking forward to the weekend – even if you’re working it 🙂

Shorter update today…   here you go….

1. It’s here…. The Blockbuster that you’ve all been waiting for…. our new Recruitment video starring YOU and our amazing youngsters…. Watch it here……  https://vimeo.com/903698892/b2826dc40f thanks everyone – its brilliant ! Hopefully we’ll attract great people to join our fabulous team.
2. What a week weather wise – absolutely freezing, thanks for braving the cold, frost snow and ice this week and making sure our services continue, next week is looking much milder.
3. This week the LMT ( Leadership & Management Team) agreed that all Risk Assessments from across the organisation should be stored and accessed via the Q Drive.  If you can’t find something please ask.  Only Policies will be locatable on the intranet going forward.
4. Have you noticed new notice boards ?  We’ve added two boards in the hospice, one id the Diner and the other in reception.  These notice board are to keep everyone (including visitors and parents) up to date with the changes in CQC over the coming months and the Quality Statements that all of us are working in line with.  Our Quality & Gov Team will keep the boards up to date and relevant.
5. We’ve got a busy year ahead of us and are driving transformation across many areas of our work and therefore we’ve suggested that the Trustees might want to meet a little more regularly to help keep on track and ensure they are fully assured of our progress.  Trustee meetings are likely to move from quarterly to bi-monthly and the four sub groups, QSI, HR, Finance and Audit/Risk are likely to meet more often also.  It’s great to have the trustees on site more and visible, as this enables them to be fully assured on the work that we all do.

And finally…. A big Happy Birthday shout out for this week to Illyas Mulla, who works in our Preston shop… Happy Birthday!

Good Morning,

Mark Redmond from  Mattioli Woods will be on site on 26 January and 12 February if anyone would like to book a meeting to talk about pensions.

The meetings are for guidance only and Mark can answer any factual questions about pensions, talk about retirement and how to plan for this, talk generically about other pensions that will include the State Pension and then broaden out to other financial questions outside of pensions but cannot give advice.

If anyone would like to book an appointment with Mark please let me know.

Thanks

Kim

MONDAY 15^th

• It’s cinema time – what would you like to watch in Derian at the Movies today?

TUESDAY 16^th

• Join us for sensory ten pin bowling fun in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Derian Playgroup for our babies and toddlers will take place in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30pm.

• Get your running shoes on – it’s the Derian House scavenger hunt, and our first team back with all the listed items will win a prize!

WEDNESDAY 17^th

• It’s time to get messy as we make hand and foot print plaques out of clay in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Rachel (Music Teacher) will host her hourly session of singing in the Snug from 11:00am – 12:00pm.

• Videographer Roland will be here at the hospice to film our brand new nurse/CSW recruitment campaign video. A huge thanks to those of you who’ve volunteered to feature.

• Our in-house children and young people will be enjoying fun and splashes in the hydrotherapy pool this afternoon.

• The Derian Dads will gather this evening in the Seaside Room from 7:30pm for their monthly meetup.

THURSDAY 18^th

• It’s Winnie the Pooh Day, so to celebrate we’ll be doing themed arty fun in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• The Senior Leadership Team will have their monthly meeting in the Conference Room this morning from 10:00am – 11:30am.

• Let’s get our bodies moving, it’s music and movement time in the Sensory Room after lunch.

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be taking place in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member of staff from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

FRIDAY 19^th

• What can we collect with Arron (Wellbeing & Play Worker) in the Woodland Walk to make forest art with this morning?

• Caroline (Wellbeing & Play Worker) will lead a sensory story time session in the House Lounge this afternoon.

• Siblings group Chill Out & Chat will meet in the Seaside Room from 6:30pm – 9:00pm.

SATURDAY 20^th

• Our group for younger siblings, Danni’s Club, will meet in the Seaside Room this afternoon from 1:30pm – 4:00pm.

• Curling and Boccia fun with Katie (Wellbeing & Play Team Leader) will take place in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Mmmmm, something smells good! It’ll be all that baking that we’re making in Danni’s Diner this afternoon.

SUNDAY 21^st

• To celebrate Red Squirrel Appreciation Day, we’ll be making furry red squirrel collage art in the Messy PlayZone today.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Hello Team Derian, a slightly later weekly update… but better late than never 🙂

Here’s your weekly summary, enjoy…..

• This week we waved goodbye to Steve who left to pursue an amazing opportunity which involves moving to California…. We wish him all the very best in his new role and re-location.  So what’s going on with IT ??? I hear you all say….. We weren’t expecting Steve to leave so we didn’t have a plan initially but now we do.  Long term we will appoint to the role of IT & Systems Manager, the role will have a wider remit than just supporting us technically, but also over seeing further systems development and overhaul across all areas of the charity including HR, payroll and finance, alongside a plan for us to move to cloud based systems rather than server hosted.  They’ll also review the phones, the wifi, and everything else IT related.  Until then we have our external IT support company – Abbey – on hand to deal with the day to day matters.  If you need any IT support please in the short term contact John Boe, but we’re hoping by next week to have someone from Abbey on site and a dedicated abbey email address for all day to day IT problems.  Any questions please just ask.

• We’ve gone live with recruitment campaign for Care staff.  Alongside this we’re creating a recruitment video which I know some of you will have a starring role in, and we hope that it will extend our recruitment reach.  In addition we have 2 maintenance roles advertised.  The Family Engagement Lead JD will hopefully finalised by the end of next week.

• As many of you will know we currently have a sunflower (Skyla) resting with us and her family are on site.  Please be mindful when making your way around the hospice.

• We’ve had some great feedback regarding our Perinatal Team, the feedback has come through the National Palliative Care Team Nurse, Alex Mancini.  It’s great to hear, well done Katie and Kathryn.

• The Care Database implementation is moving forward well, we start trial runs from Monday with a go live date on the 29^th All areas of Care will be fully live by the end of March.  Huge thanks to everyone involved in leading and implementing, it’s been a mammoth task – bigger than we ever thought – but the teamwork has been wonderful to see.

• Thanks everyone for doing your annual e-learning, has everyone started ? anyone completed ???? I really need to get some time in my diary to complete.  Seriously though, it is ally important and an indicator with CQC for whether we are well led and safe.

• Our first fundraising events of the year have been launched. Dog owners – could your pup be Derian’s Top Dog? If you fancy taking part in our four-legged fundraiser this Feb visit derianhouse.co.uk/events

• We’re extremely busy drafting the coming financial year’s budget.  This includes predicting both the income we’ll receive and also the expenditure across the organisation.  The Trustee Board will approve / decline the draft budget at their meeting at the end of February, and then we can share this in March.  We’ll roll out training for key budget holders and also review the financial procedures and sign off levels across leaders.

• I’m spending much of my time chasing the commissioners across the 2 ICBs that are within our patch, GM and L&SC.  As soon as I have any updates about statutory funding post March I’ll share the position, and any impact as a direct result.  One of the difficulties in convincing funders about our value has been the issues relating to good quality reliable data, impact measurement data and delivering in line with contracts.  Going forward we will be in a much better position.

And finally… Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear………Abi Conway and Kirsty Blackburn….. happy birthday to you 🙂

Have a great weekend everyone

Is your perfect pooch Derian’s next Top Dog? 

Our furriest fundraising challenge is back… and you’d be barking mad to miss it! 

Slip on your walking boots throughout the month of February and complete 100km, whilst raising a minimum of £100 for your local children’s hospice 

All of our dedicated dogs will receive a free fundraising pack including a progress tracker, poster, and money-can’t-buy bandana, and there’ll be awards dished out like dog food at the end of the month for those pups that go the extra mile (quite literally!) 

Register your interest or sign up today by visiting our website below (please ask for dog’s permission before doing so) 

 https://www.derianhouse.co.uk/events/derians-top-dog/

MONDAY 8^th

• We’re kicking the week off with messy tactile sensory play in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• It’s cinema time – what would you like to watch in Derian at the Movies today?

TUESDAY 9^th

• We got lots of brand new board games for Christmas, so we’ll be testing them out in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Derian Playgroup for our babies and toddlers will take place in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30pm.

• Are you listening carefully? Heads down for Sounds Bingo in the House Lounge this afternoon.

• Individual and group sessions of music therapy with Martha will be held in the Snug from 2:00pm.

WEDNESDAY 10^th

• Let’s bake some ‘New Year’ themed biscuits in Danni’s Diner this morning.

• Rachel (Music Teacher) will host her hourly session of singing in the Snug from 11:00am – 12:00pm.

• You’ll find us in the Hydrotherapy Pool this afternoon, making plenty of splashes and having lots of fun.

THURSDAY 11^th

• A sensory tactile and messy play session will take place in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Our volunteers from across the North West will be collecting over 200 Christmas trees as part of our annual ‘Treecycle’ both today and tomorrow, which has already brought in over £3,000 so far.

• It’s time for winter sports this afternoon – join us for competitive curling and Boccia fun.

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be taking place in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member of staff from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

• Our Sibling Social will be meeting in the Seaside Room from 7:00pm – 9:00pm this evening.

FRIDAY 12^th  

• It’s time for the great Derian treasure hunt – solve the clues to find the hidden treasure in our beautiful hospice grounds.

• Let’s get our bodies moving – it’s music and movement with Claire (Wellbeing & Play Worker) in the Sensory Room this afternoon.

SATURDAY 13^th

• B-I-N-G-O! Who’ll get a full house in today’s Prize Bingo with Katie (Wellbeing & Play Team Leader)?

SUNDAY 14^th

• Yummy, yummy, yummy – we’ve got cake in our tummy! We’ll be making some tasty treats to take home in Danni’s Diner this morning.

• Caroline (Wellbeing & Play Worker) will facilitate a session of Sensory Story Time in the House Lounge this afternoon.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

https://youtu.be/l_zrGdpmOSU

Happy Friday Team Derian…. & Happy New Year!

Here’s your first weekly news update of 2024….

Firstly, let’s celebrate birthdays.  Celebrating their birthdays earlier this week we’ve had Kim and Fran, hope you’ve both had wonderful birthdays, and celebrating this coming week are Rosie, Faye and Jen. Enjoy!

• Kirsty and the Education Team have been successful in securing an online platform to host the Palliative and end of life care education project content. We have sent the modules over to the developers and are very excited to see how all of our hard works looks! The content will include key areas for your practice in a hospice including grief and bereavement, compassionate communication skills, symptom management and more. We are hoping that it will be live by March 2024, and once live you’ll be able to access the content at any time.
• This week we’ve doubled our HR team, as we welcomed Louise Bamber to support Kim with implementing our new strategic aims for being an employer of choice.
• We’re continuing to develop a great relationship with our friends over at CQC, Catherine is now officially our Registered Manager and we’re making a few changes to our registration details and updating our Statement of Purpose. We’re really keen to ensure everyone within the organisation is confident in the role of CQC and so we’re developing a briefing document about the new framework and also a helpful one-page guide on how we’ll respond should we get an unexpected visit at any point.
• We’ve been in the news 325 times in 2023 including stories on BBC News, in the Independent newspaper and even on Newsround – well done for all your hard work that has made us so newsworthy.  This really helps with our profile, reputation and funding.
• We’re making the final plans for our HUGE recruitment drive.  We’re hoping to attract a number of registered and non-registered staff in to the Integrated Care Team.  We will also be advertising a new exciting role, a Family Advocate/Engagement Lead.  This role will have autonomy across the organisation and will ensure that families are at the heart of all decision making.  If anyone want to chat about the role, please do come and grab me.
• And finally, for this week, we’re looking to relocate our Chorley shop.  We’re keen to have a flagship store in our hometown and so the search is on for a bigger store – we’ll keep you updated!

That’s about it for now, have a lovely weekend everyone

It’s time to welcome three more new starters to our humble abode. You’ve probably already met them, but learn a bit more by scrolling down below!

Andrea Kilcommins – Shop Assistant, Horwich

You may already recognise Andrea from her short-but-sweet time with us as a volunteer in our Horwich shop, before she got the job of shop assistant in October last year.

After a varied career and decades working in the supply chain industry, her leap into the Horwich shop came from a combination of both diversifying her career later in life, and also because of her passion for all things retail.

Andrea absolutely loves communicating with customers and being in a shop environment, and is mostly looking forward to being a part of the special team at Derian House that all shares the same common goal.

Outside of work, Andrea loves holidaying and travelling the world, and has also been part of a rock choir for the past six years… that has even performed with Rick Astley, at Hyde Park, and the BBC Proms!

Bethanie Youll – Registered Nurse

Bethanie is the latest member to join our Care Team, and comes to us after five years at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital where she worked since qualifying back in 2018.

After recently moving to Buckshaw Village, the commute was proving a slog for our newest nurse and so she fancied a change… which brought her here to Derian House!

Bethanie has worked with a few of our children and young people already on the wards of Alder Hey, and is looking forward to being more involved in the day-to-day goings on of a child’s stay here at the hospice rather than the constant chaos of a hospital environment.

When she’s not nursing, Bethanie enjoys walking and hiking in the Lake District, and is prone to a good old musical!

John Boe – Head of Facilities & Infrastructure

Our new Head of Facilities & Infrastructure has done it all! From engineering to being in the military police, and school caretaker roles to compliance and legislation, his latest adventure takes him to his local children’s hospice right here at Derian House.

His previous job at Albany Academy saw him work alongside our Head of Finance, Colin, so when a job opportunity arose at the hospice, he followed in his pal’s footsteps and jumped at the chance to join our team.

John is a self-proclaimed people person, and is looking forward to learning more about hospice care and working with the various teams and families here.

In his own time, John frequents his motorhome up and down the country, enjoys hill walking with his border collies Ezra and Eli, and even makes bespoke shepherd’s crooks!

…not forgetting he’s the older brother of Broadway legend Alfie Boe!

Hello all,

This is a polite reminder – please can you inform Reception of any visitors you are expecting, then this can be noted in the reception diary so volunteers are aware who to expect – thank you.

Derian House was in the news a total of 325 times last year, with appearances in the Independent newspaper, on BBC TV news, and even in Hello Magazine!

The majority of the national news stories about us involved our seven-year-old fundraising superstar Oscar Burrow who climbed 12 mountains to the height of Everest to raise more than £40,000 for our children and young people.

As well as attracting national news stories in more than 20 different newspapers, websites and TV news stations, Oscar received a Points of Light Award by the Prime Minister and even bagged himself a place at the Princess of Wales’ Christmas carol concert, along with our Chief Exec Karen.

The 325 news stories about Derian House included 21 TV appearances on Granada, BBC North West Tonight and local channel That’s Lancashire. And we were on the radio 39 times.

Well done everyone for creating great news stories with our outstanding care and our epic fundraising.

Happy New Year!

TUESDAY 2^nd

• Say hello to our new starter – HR Administrator Louise Bamber – who joins the team today.

• Get the tin foil out… it’s National Science Fiction Day, so we’re celebrating with themed spacecraft arts and crafts in the Messy PlayZone today, followed by a film in the Cinema.

WEDNESDAY 3^rd

• Sit back and relax for a winter chill themed sensory journey in the Sensory Room this morning.

• Our in-house children and young people will be enjoying fun and splashes in the hydrotherapy pool after lunch.

THURSDAY 4^th 

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be taking place in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member of staff from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

• We’ll be indulging in a session of messy, tactile sensory exploring in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Relax and unwind after lunch with story time in the House Lounge.

FRIDAY 5^th

• What’s that smell? It’s time for our world-famous smelly bingo in the Snug this morning!

• Caroline W (Wellbeing & Play Worker) will facilitate our first Sensory Story Time of the year in the House Lounge after lunch.

• Martha (Music Therapist) will be leading individual and group sessions of Music Therapy in the Snug from 2:00pm.

SATURDAY 6^th

• Nintendo Switch fun with Arron (Wellbeing & Play Worker) will take place in the Hub at the House after breakfast this morning.

• It’s competition time! Who will come out on top in our in-house boccia and curling tournament?

SUNDAY 7^th

• It’s time for one of our favourite activities – a garden scavenger hunt! Hopefully the weather will be kind to us as we explore the hospice grounds.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• Taken down the Christmas tree and don’t want to make a mess of your car? Why not ‘tree’cycle it for just £15, and have it collected by the Derian House team. Visit the link for more info – https://www.derianhouse.co.uk/events/tree-recycle/

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Happy festivities Team Derian, here’s your “Mad Friday” festive weekly round-up….enjoy

1. I literally could have been out of a job earlier this week as 15yr old Junior who was staying for respite took the role of CEO for the afternoon.  He hosted the Bolton Wanderers visit and quizzed staff on their role and responsibilities across the hospice, it was wonderful to spend time with him.
2. The hospice has been filled with joy, laughter and music this week which has been wonderful to see and hear, there is a real positive vibe!
3. Catherine hosted a visit from the Ribble Valley Mayor this week, who was absolutely overcome with tears to see the work and has promised to come back.
4. Thursday evening was the annual Trees of Love event, it was touch and go if the event would go ahead, but despite starting the day with all of the trees fallen like dominoes after the storm, the whole team – including Gareth the gardener – pulled together to fix it, securing the trees, fixing the lights and baubles, to give hundreds of children and their families a magical experience. Everyone did an amazing job including our wonderful volunteers.
5. Bolton wanderers footballers visited the hospice on Tuesday to hand out gifts and toys and play a few (very competitive) games of FIFA with some of our youngsters. Keep your eyes out for some more sporting heroes when rugby players from Wigan Warriors visit this afternoon.
6. The fundraising team have been rushed off their feet – in the last week alone we’ve had more than 70 different donations of toys, chocolate and money dropped off by generous businesses and people in the community – this has been by far our busiest Christmas for donations.
7. We’ve had some amazing feedback from CQC – they contacted Catherine earlier this week to say that they were using Derian as an example of best practice with a children’s hospice they were currently inspecting, and making particular reference to our plans for sunflowers, and also our Say My Childs Name campaign, this was wonderful feedback.
8. Who knows what to do if our friends at CQC decided to make an unannounced visit ?  Fear not – we’re working up a new one page flow chart and SOP if and when the day should come – we’ll all know exactly what to do and be very confident.
9. Our children thoroughly enjoyed a live-streamed performance of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt from the Lowry on Wednesday.
10. I need a name change !!  It’s a good time to be called Joan. Our £5,000 Christmas raffle winner was drawn last Friday, 79-year-old Joan from Chorley… and a couple of hours later we received an email to say one of our players on the Derian House Lottery had won the £25,000 jackpot. Would you believe another Joan, 83, from Burnley!

And finally – festive birthdays coming up ahead of the New Year…. A HO HO HO Birthday shout goes to Clare Carter, Rhianne Hodgson, Jessica Fagan, Lindsay Bruton and Gill Rabbett….. (I always wondered if people with Xmas birthdays got more or less presents ????) 😉

Have a fabulous Christmas everyone

Hello All

Today is the last day for any 1^st class post to be delivered in time for Christmas.

There will still be post collections up until Friday 22^nd December (but won’t be delivered for Christmas).

Good Morning,

To make logging maintenance jobs easier, and keeping a check of how many jobs are being carried out and the time scale. I have asked IT to set up an Estates email address, which is : estates@derianhouse.co.uk.

Please use this email when you encounter any maintenance issue, in your place of work or whilst walking around the site.

Kind Regards

John

MONDAY 18^th

• A huge thanks to the Catering Team for our delicious Christmas lunch baguettes which they served up today.

• The Mayor of South Ribble dropped by the hospice for a visit.

TUESDAY 19^th

• Derian Playgroup for our babies and toddlers will be held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30pm, where this week they’ll enjoy their Christmas party.

• Karen (CEO), Catherine (Chief Nurse), and the rest of the Leadership and Management Team will engage in their monthly meeting in the Conference Room this morning.

• Individual and group sessions of music therapy with Martha will take place in the Snug from 2:00pm.

• The team from Bolton Wanderers Football Club will be visiting us from 3:00pm to hand out presents to our children and young people.

WEDNESDAY 20^th

• Music teacher Rachel will be in the House Snug from 11:00am to entertain us all with an hour of Christmas sing-along fun.

THURSDAY 21^st

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be taking place in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member of staff from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

• It’s Christmas raffle time! There are 7 prizes up for grabs (of which you can find on the Intranet article), and tickets are just £1 a strip. These can be purchased from reception and it’ll be drawn LIVE today in the Diner.

• We’re going on a bear hunt, and we’re not scared! The Lowry Theatre will be live-streaming their Thursday afternoon performance right here in the hospice for our children and young people to enjoy with their families.

• Our magical Trees of Love forest will open up to the general public from 4:00pm – 8:00pm as we welcome friends, families and supporters to our festive garden party. Father Christmas will be making an appearance, and there’ll be plenty of stalls to peruse in the Seaside Room.

FRIDAY 22^nd  

• The Wigan Warriors team will be visiting the hospice to have a look at our facilities and deliver gifts to our children and young people.

SUNDAY 24^th

• ‘Twas the night before Christmas… our families will hopefully be at home awaiting the joy of Christmas morning with their loved ones.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• The team of Directors will be progressing the recruitment campaign for Care Team roles for the new year this week.

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Hello All

It’s Christmas Raffle time!  There are 7 prizes up for grabs (and there could be more!) – see picture below.

Tickets are £1 for a strip – these can be purchased from reception – draw will take place on Thursday 21^st December – good luck!

Hi everyone, here’s another round up from me to keep you all looped in… it’s a little early as I am not around on Friday

1. The trustees have their final meeting today of 2023.  We have decided to start all Trustee meetings with the opportunity for our families to share their experiences directly with the Trustees.  This week Holly, Alfie’s Mum, will talk about the support he and his family received at Derian.  It’s important that trustees are able to meet families directly and ask about the services received, and whether families feel that their experience was positive and where they feel we could do more or provide different services.  This helps trustees be assured and enables us to ensure we provide services that families need and want.  It’s also a key part of our family engagement work and makes sure that families are at the heart of everything that we do.
2. Catherine and I had our 6 monthly engagement call with our Relationship Manager at CQC this week.  This was a hugely positive meeting, Karen (yes another one…) has been our contact at CQC for over 2 years and had visited Lynn and I earlier this year.  However given the changes at CQC, her role will be changing and we will be allocated a new Relationship Manager who we will meet in around 6 months time.  During our call with Karen she advised that there had been an anonymous whistle blow in November from an employee at Derian.  The concerns raised were not within the remit for CQC to investigate as they were not in relation to patient safety, but they wanted to share with us the detail of the case so that we could explore ourselves.  As you know I (and the wider Leadership team) are very keen to develop an open and transparent culture at Derian and on that basis I am very happy to share a brief summary of the nature of the concerns that were raised as part of the whistle blow.  The concerns raised can be described in two themes.  The first is around culture, the whistle blower described a culture that had been around for a number of years that was negative and bullying, one which undervalued staff.  The second theme was in relation to the merger of the community and in house team and the development of a one team approach through the integrated care team.  Catherine and I talked Karen through the changes we are currently working through, and the ambitions for the future, which were extremely well received.  CQC are very impressed with our strategic plan and the innovative way we want to grow our services and develop our workforce across integrated care.  We all acknowledged that change is difficult for all staff (Karen herself referred to how the culture at CQC had been impacted recently as they are undergoing lots of change which impacts on the workforce).  We also took the opportunity to share with Karen our move to Care Database, our work on the say my child’s name campaign and the little things documentary and a whole host of other things from across the organisation.  Catherine explained how we were looking to launch a huge recruitment campaign in the new year, including binging a wider nursing experience to the team, again Karen was very impressed.  I guess the main point of reflection here for me is to remember that we are all on this journey together, and I’d like to encourage all staff to talk to the leadership team if you have any concerns about our direction of travel, we are here to listen.
3. Josie Hauxwell had her interview with UCLAN this week as part of her application for the for the Nurse Associate Apprenticeship course that will start in March 2024.  I am delighted to share that Josie passed with flying colours. The course tutor was very impressed said that the 6 C’s were flowing out of Josie.  She further commented that Josie is an asset to Derian House and that she will do really well as a Nurse Associate and beyond.  Great news and absolutely well done Josie!
4. Catherine, the ACPs and I met with the GPs on Wednesday.  The GPs are a key part of our medical model and it’s important that they are fully involved in the co-design of what that looks like in the future.  We’re looking forward to building on the relationship with them and making them feel part of the Derian team.
5. Finally, I’d like to say an early HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following member of our team who celebrates (or commiseratesJ) her birthday next week…… Lynn Taylor !

As always, have a wonderful weekend and keep being brilliant !

MONDAY 11^th  

• Say hello to our brand new starter Anthony Mohammed (Head of Quality, Governance & Compliance), who joins the team today…

• …and also a grand return in the form of Jeff Melling (Catering Manager) – aka Jeff the Chef – who is already treating us to his famous cheese and onion pie on his first day back!

• It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! As ever when it gets to this time of year, all teams are expected to be very busy this week with families, children, young people, visitors and fundraisers dropping by! J

• Karen (CEO) and Catherine (Chief Nurse) will have a support meeting with our CQC Relationship Manager today.

• Denise (Complementary Therapist) will be up and down the bedroom corridor offering massage and reflexology to our children and young people.

TUESDAY 12^th  

• Derian Playgroup for our babies and toddlers will be held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30pm.

• Eyes down looking… it’s prize bingo time (the Christmas edition)! Join us in the Messy PlayZone this morning for festive fun.

• We’ll be in Danni’s Diner this afternoon, making some tasty mince pies to take home.

• Individual and group sessions of music therapy with Martha will be held in the Snug from 2:00pm.

WEDNESDAY 13^th

• Karen Swindley (Chair of Trustees) will be visiting the hospice to have catch-ups with Karen (CEO) and Chris (Trustee).

• Catherine (Chief Nurse) will meet with the GPs for their monthly catch-up.

• Music teacher Rachel will be in the House Snug from 11:00am to entertain us all with an hour of sing-along fun.

• Our children and young people will be making a splash in the hydrotherapy pool after lunch.

THURSDAY 14^th

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be taking place in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member of staff from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

• We love the smell of gingerbread! We’re going to be decorating some yummy gingerbread people this morning in the Messy PlayZone.

• Trustees will be in the House in preparation for the Board Meeting, which will be held from 6:00pm – 8:00pm in Vinten Meeting Room.

• Pet therapy pooch Shuna will be here at the hospice with her human Linda for snuggles.

• Join us in the Messy PlayZone for Christmas wreath making this afternoon.

FRIDAY 15^th  

• Catherine (Chief Nurse) will undertake the final stage of her application to become a Registered Manager with the CQC this morning.

• Our Derian parents will meet up at a festive edition of our monthly Coffee Morning held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 12:00pm.

• It’s party time! We’ll be playing Christmas-themed games in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• What do you leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve? We’ll be making delicious cookies for him today in Danni’s Diner!

SATURDAY 16^th

• Families will spend quality time together at the latest Stay & Platy session held in the Conference Room from 1:30pm – 3:00pm.

• For our older children and young people and their families, the Youth Family Drop-In will take place in the Lodge from 1:30pm – 3:00pm.

• ‘Twas the night before Christmas… it wasn’t, but that’s what we’ll be reading in the Sensory Room this afternoon as we snuggle up for Christmas stories and luxury hot chocolates!

SUNDAY 17^th

• Over 100 Rivington Barn Bikers are expected to arrive at the hospice mid-afternoon for their annual Christmas toy run.

• We’re going on a reindeer hunt through the Christmas trees this afternoon.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Happy Friday everyone, here’s your weekly round-up….

1. This week we’ve well and truly welcomed in the festive spirit, hosting our Volunteer Xmas Thankyou event on Wednesday, and seeing everyone in their Xmas Jumpers on Thursday for Xmas Jumper Day.   The photos on social media look great.
2. Over the weekend the party theme continues as we host the children’s party on Saturday afternoon at Worden Academy in Leyland and in the evening it’s the lodgers’ turn. They will be partying at TCs sports bar.  The siblings will have their own party for the first time this year at the hospice, with a visit from the Santa Limo.
3. The Lights of Love event last Friday evening was a wonderful evening, thanks to everyone to was involved in the planning and organising.
4. We’ve had a busy week across the hospice, which has needed all teams to pull together to ensure we provide the very best for our families, thank you everyone.
5. As a reminder, in addition to planned stays (respite) we have two children staying with us for end of life care currently, and today have a baby resting in a sunflower suite, and three families on site, please bear this in mind when making your way through the hospice or if you have visitors.
6. The Care Database has gone live for bookings and referrals.  Fingers crossed it’s all gone well, no news is good news as they say…..
7. Thank you to staff who have been working through the open incidents on Vantage.  In the background we are resolving issues with closures and also looking at how we can make much better use of the system.
8. Today I am heading to London to represent Derian House at HRH The Princess of Wales Carol Service at Westminster Abbey.  Also representing the hospice is our mini explorer Oscar Burrows, who was nominated by the Lord Lieutenant for his amazing fundraising efforts this year.
9. The final Trustee meeting of 2023 will take place next Thursday evening.  Trustees will be on site from the afternoon, please do say hello and have a chat with them if possible, they don’t bite….
10. We’re meeting with our CQC Relationship Manager on Monday, she is very keen to hear all about our developments, and is very supportive.   Catherine also has the final stage of her Registered Manager application process on Friday.

Have a great weekend

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow (Thursday 7^th) is the UK’s official ‘Christmas Jumper Day’, so please if you haven’t already – adorn your Christmas tshirts, hats, jumpers and accessories (depending on which area of Derian you work in), and be photo ready!

In November, a record breaking 1️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Santas jingled all the way to the top of Rivington Pike and back to raise money for Derian House, we launched our brand new campaign which asks people to ‘Say My Child’s Name’, and Christmas came early as we geared up for the festive season here at the hospice #MonthInAMinute 💚

MONDAY 4^th  

• It’s Movie Time! What Christmas film will we watch in the cinema this afternoon?

• It’s Grief Awareness Week, and Together for Short Lives will be supporting our Say My Child’s Name campaign from now until Sunday.

TUESDAY 5^th

• Derian Playgroup for our babies and toddlers will be held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30pm.

• Happy St. Nicholas Day everyone! To celebrate, we’ll be doing Santa Claus arts and crafts in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Something smells nice – it’ll be the mince pies that we’re making in Danni’s Diner after lunch.

• Individual and group sessions of music therapy with Martha will be held in the Snug from 2:00pm.

• England and Manchester United footballer Mason Mount has featured in and narrated a short film by Together for Short Lives, which he will be posting out to his 6.3million Instagram followers today! The short film captures the true meaning of Christmas, and 90% of the children, young people and siblings involved are our very own Derian House families.

WEDNESDAY 6^th  

• Come along and decorate a cheeky, mischievous elf in the Messy PlayZone to celebrate ‘Elf Day’.

• Music teacher Rachel will be in the House Snug from 11:00am to entertain us all with an hour of sing-along fun.

• This afternoon, we’ll be making Christmas crackers in the Messy PlayZone to take home.

• Our volunteers will be welcomed into the hospice for a Christmas-themed afternoon tea to thank them for all of their hard work over the last twelve months.

• Our Derian Dads Bereavement Group will be meeting in the Seaside Room for a takeaway and a catch-up from 7:00pm – 9:30pm.

THURSDAY 7^th

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be taking place in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member of staff from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

• It’s Christmas Jumper Day, so come along in your Christmas Jumpers to celebrate – we’ll also be designing our dream jumpers in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Pet therapy pooch Shuna will be here at the hospice with her human Linda for snuggles.

• Our children and young people will be making a splash in the hydrotherapy pool after lunch.

• The Sibling Social will be enjoying an evening out in Blackpool at ‘Christmas by the Sea’, where there’ll be plenty of ice skating, amusement park rides and Christmas market stalls.

FRIDAY 8^th

• Chill Out & Chat will be in the Seaside Room from 6:30pm – 9:00pm tonight, where the iBox gaming van will be parked up outside for our young people to enjoy.
• Happy Hanukah to those who celebrate. Join us in the Messy PlayZone for candle-themed artwork in the Messy PlayZone.

• The team from Wigan Warriors will be here at the hospice from 1:00pm to deliver Christmas presents and see our incredible facilities.

• We’ll be making Christmas tree decorations from clay in the Messy PlayZone this afternoon.

SATURDAY 9^th

• It’s party time! Our Derian House families will have a day and night to remember as we host our annual Christmas parties. The House party will take place at Worden Academy in Leyland, and the Lodge party will be held at TC’s Sports Bar just down the road from the hospice.

SUNDAY 10^th

• Explore our amazing sensory story bags in the House Lounge and let your imaginations run free.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• Derian’s Deck the Halls House Trail is now ready to be explored this Christmas. Enjoy festive (and free!) fun for all the family by visiting the houses that are lighting up for their local children’s hospice this Christmas – https://www.derianhouse.co.uk/events/deck-the-halls/

• The stunning Trees of Love forest here in our grounds truly is a Winter Wonderland, and many of our families have been in to decorate them in memory of a loved one lost. For more information, visit the link – https://www.derianhouse.co.uk/events/trees-of-love/

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Hello everyone, I hope that you’re all well and getting into the festive spirit now that December has arrived.

Here’s my weekly update to keep all looped in….

1. We’re looking more festive each and every day! The Trees of Love are looking wonderful in the gardens, thanks to Micks team – especially Ellie – for ensuring they look fabulously flocked.
2. The Lights of Love service is this evening at Blackburn Cathedral and is a sell out.  Im looking forward to welcoming guests and reminding everyone about the amazing work we do.
3. I know that good news spreads quickly…. so most of you already know….but here’s your official news about the return of the legendary cheese pie King…. Jeff the Chef…. who I am delighted to confirm will re-join Team Derian on Monday 11^th
4. Anthony Mohammed joins us also on Monday 11^th as our new Head of Quality, Governance & Compliance.  Anthony has significant experience in governance and risk, and CQC compliance.
5. Staying with new starters, we look forward to welcoming Sarah to the Chorley shop as our new retail assistant next week.
6. In terms of leavers, Kev will be moving on from Derian in the new year, having secured a great opportunity much closer to home.  We wish Kev well for the future.  At this point in the development of our Integrated Care Offer we will not be recruiting to the role of Lead ACP, and will continue to review our medical model requirements going forward.
7. Next week is national grief awareness week, and Together For Short Lives will be sharing our Say My Childs Name campaign across their social media platforms.
8. Big thanks to the Directors and their direct reports/managers for developing the delivery plans for the coming year, which include key milestones and KPIs across the charity.  These will be shared at the trustee meeting later this month and go live from January.
9. The Strategic HR sub group have approved our recommendations for improved Terms & Conditions for staff.  This will now be presented to the trustee board for final sign off.  We look forward to sharing the detail later this month.
10. It’s been wonderful to see the hospice a little busier, and increased use of the sunflower rooms, this is a step towards our ambitions for next year.
11. And finally, we’ll be launching a HUGE recruitment campaign aligned with our strategic plan, to attract and appoint a large number of nurses and CSWs to work across our Integrated Care Team.  We’re excited about this new campaign as it will be much different to anything we have done before.

MONDAY 27^th

• Denise (Complementary Therapist) will be facilitating sessions of massage and reflexology to our children and young people this afternoon.

TUESDAY 28^th

• Derian Playgroup for our babies and toddlers will be held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30pm.

• To mark National Tree Week, we’ll be enjoying greenhouse planting fun with Gareth the gardener this morning.

• Let’s start counting down to Christmas with advent calendar making in the Messy PlayZone after lunch.

• Individual and group sessions of music therapy with Martha will be held in the Snug from 2:00pm.

• The HR strategic sub-committee meeting will be held in Vinten Meeting Room from 12:00pm – 2:00pm.

• Margaret Ashton-Gray of the Lancashire County Council and Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care Board will be visiting the hospice this afternoon.

WEDNESDAY 29^th

• There’ll be a session of sensory tenpin bowling fun in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Music teacher Rachel will be in the House Snug from 11:00am to entertain us all with an hour of sing-along fun.

• Our in-house children and young people will be making a splash in the hydrotherapy pool this afternoon.

• Karen (CEO) will be attending the Great Manchester Hospices meeting this morning.

• Renowned comedian and star of Phoenix Nights, Dave Spikey, will be performing at Chorley Little Theatre for a night dedicated to raising funds for Derian House from 7:30pm.

THURSDAY 30^th

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be taking place in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member of staff from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

• Wishing a very Happy St. Andrew’s Day to those of you who celebrate – we’ll be celebrating with Scottish-themed arty activities in the Messy PlayZone.

• John (Family Counsellor) will be facilitating a wellbeing session for all staff in the Cinema from 4:00pm today.

• Join us in Danni’s Diner as we make yummy Scottish shortbread to take home.

FRIDAY 1^st

• ‘Tis the season! To celebrate the first day of December, we’ll be making decorations for our Christmas trees in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Our children and young people will be enjoying a session of Sensory Story Time with Caroline (Wellbeing & Play Worker) in the House Lounge this afternoon.

• Our annual Lights of Love service – seen by many as the start of the Christmas period – will take place at Blackburn Cathedral from 7:30pm. There’ll be plenty of readings, music and festive cheer.

• As of today, we’re able to wear our Christmas t-shirts and jumpers. For those delivering care, please continue to adhere to IPC policies (t-shirts only).

SATURDAY 2^nd

• Snuggle down in the House Lounge for Christmassy stories with Katie (Wellbeing & Play Team Leader).

SUNDAY 3^rd

• You’ll find our children and young people in the hydrotherapy pool this morning.

• Boccia and curling fun for all will be held in the Messy PlayZone after lunch today.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Hello Team Derian, hope that you’re all well and looking forward to the weekend (even if you’re working it!)

So here it is…. The 2^nd edition of “Catch up with Karen”, and I’ve even got my own Derian branding!

Here’s just a few bits of information to keep you all looped it…. Happy reading 🙂

1. This week we’ve had a great deal of media attention following the release of our #Saymychildsname campaign.  Global Radio interviewed Kiki and myself, and this is expected to be broadcast across Heart, Smooth and Capital radio today (24^th).  ITV were on site yesterday filming Johnathon and Kirsty, Iris’s Mum and Dad, and Jake, Lily-Mai’s Dad, and the campaign was the main news feature on Granada Reports yesterday, reaching in to 250,000 homes across the North West.  Kiki, Dexter’s Mum, was live in the studios and represented Derian, and all bereaved families beautifully.  If you missed it, here’s the link… https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2023-11-23/bereaved-parents-back-campaign-about-child-loss-stigma

2. On Tuesday we have the quarterly meeting of the Strategic HR Sub Group (Sub-committee from the Trustee Board), meeting at the hospice.  During this meeting Kim will be presenting a proposal on a full review of terms and conditions, and benefits for all staff.  Recommendations will then go to the wider Trustee Board in December.  We’re hoping to be able to share the outcome with everyone soon.

3. I’m looking forward to receiving the draft annual plans (objectives and KPIs) from each of the Directors early next week.  These will align directly with the strategic plan and will outline our key activity across all areas of the charity in achieving aspects of the vision in 2024.  The plans will be measurable and time bound.

4. We have managed to appoint a new Head of Quality, Governance and Compliance.  Anthony Mohammed has significant strategic experience in governance roles across various health sectors and will join us over the coming weeks, likely to be mid-December.

5. Catherine has been out and about this week and had a successful meetings at both the Antenatal ward at East Lancs hospital Trust in Burnley, and the SUDC team at L&SC Foundation Trust.  Partnership work is key to creating the pathways needed to deliver against our ambition plans going forward.

6. The data migration phase of the transition to Care Database has now been completed.  HURRAH I hear from Care Database towers in Vinten Place.  We go LIVE with the system for bookings and new referral only from the 4^th Huge thanks to everyone who has supported this transition, especially Kelly, Kirsty and Verity.

7. On Tuesday Lynn is popping in for a couple of hours in the afternoon, please do drop in to the Seaside room from 2pm onwards, as we wish Lynn well in her retirement.

8. Finally, the most important news for you all is that your December pay date will be the 20^th (slightly earlier than usual)

Any feedback – good bad or indifferent – please share, let’s keep the conversation going…..

Good Morning,

To make logging maintenance jobs easier, and keeping a check of how many jobs are being carried out and the time scale. I have asked IT to set up an Estates email address, which is : estates@derianhouse.co.uk

Please use this email when you encounter any maintenance issue, in your place of work  or whilst walking around the site.

Kind Regards

John

MONDAY 20^th

• Denise (Complementary Therapist) will be facilitating sessions of massage and reflexology to our children and young people this afternoon.

TUESDAY 21^st

• Derian Playgroup for our babies and toddlers will be held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30pm this morning.

• How many ways and languages can we say ‘Hello’ in to celebrate World Hello Day?! Join us in the Messy PlayZone this morning to find out.

• It’s Sensory Story Time with Caroline (Wellbeing & Play Worker) in the Sensory Room this afternoon.

WEDNESDAY 22^nd

• Let’s make lots of noise as we explore our big tub of musical instruments in the Snug this morning.

• Music teacher Rachel will be in the House Snug from 11:00am to entertain us all with an hour of sing-along fun.

• Eyes down… it’s prize bingo time! We’ll be in the Messy PlayZone this afternoon with our bingo dabbers at the ready.

• Our Derian Dads will meet tonight in the Seaside Room for their monthly catch-up from 7:30pm.

THURSDAY 23^rd

• EXTERMINATE! It’s Doctor Who Day, and to celebrate the 60^th anniversary we’ll be making the Doctor’s TARDIS in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Our Pet Therapy pooch Shuna will be walking around the hospice with her human Linda for snuggles and strokes.

• ITV will be at the hospice from 10:30am to film a segment about our brand new campaign Say My Child’s Name.

• Splish, splash – this afternoon, our in-house children and young people will be in the hydrotherapy pool.

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be taking place in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

FRIDAY 24^th

• We’ll be making mini scarecrows in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Our children and young people will be enjoying another sessions of Sensory Story Time in the House Lounge this afternoon.

• Friday Night Club for our Lodgers will be held in the Lodge from 6:00pm this evening.

SATURDAY 25^th

• Gooooooo Derian Dynamos! We’ll be hosting a Boccia and Curling competition in the Messy PlayZone today.

• Join Arron (Wellbeing & Play Worker) in the Woodland Walk for forest art this morning.

• Our Lodge lads will be at the hospice for social weekend for today.

• Derian Mums Bereavement Group will be held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am.

SUNDAY 26^th

• You’ll find our children and young people in the hydrotherapy pool this morning.

• A therapeutic TAC PAC session with Claire (Wellbeing & Play Worker) will commence in the Sensory Room this afternoon.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Thursday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! 🙂

Good Morning all,

We are happy to say we are able to wear our Christmas t shirts/jumpers as of 1^st of December. For those delivering care please continue to adhere to IPC bare below the elbow so t shirts only.

We will be starting to put the Christmas trees up from the 30^th November, this often takes some time so if anyone is available Monday 3^rd December to support the finishing touches that would be greatly appreciated.

The Children and young people’s Christmas parties will be taking place Saturday 9^th December and lots of festive fun is planned for the month of December.

Hello Team Derian

Welcome to the 1^st edition of my weekly e-update….. a brief email which I’ll send out personally each Friday to keep everyone up to date on relevant hospice wide matters.  You’ll be pleased to know that it won’t be war and peace, just a few paragraphs of useful information to keep you in the loop.

So…here’s this week’s news….

1. I’ve completed three staff briefings over the last week – they’ve been really well attended and very participative, so thank you to everyone who has managed to get along to one of the dates.  Thanks also for everyone’s honest contribution – that’s really welcome and appreciated.  For those of you who have managed to escape the briefing so far, fear not, I’ll be sending a brief video version of the presentation so that everyone receives the same message.
2. As you all know, Luke will be leaving us in a couple of months, progressing to a great opportunity in Facilities Management.  We have been busy behind the scenes searching for his successor and I am delighted to share that John Boe will join us on Monday 20^th November, enabling a really great handover between Luke and John.
3. We are currently advertising for a Catering Manager, we’re looking for someone who can be really flexible, working a varied shift pattern and who can help shape our catering offer going forward to align with our plans for increased activity across the hospice.
4. Christmas has arrived at the hospice, it’s been lovely to see the daily additions of decorations, lights, snowmen etc etc…. Christmas is absolutely welcome at Derian in November!  My tree at home is going up next week…. Am I the first ????
5. Kim and I are currently interviewing for the new Head of Governance and Compliance role – fingers crossed we find the right fit for Derian and get them in post quickly.  This is probably are biggest risk area at the moment.
6. Catherine has the final part of her application process for Registered Manager status with the CQC in December, and so hopefully we’ll complete that then.  It’s been a fairly long process so far, but with myself as Responsible Individual we are fully covered until the application process concludes.
7. The Say My Child’s Name has to be one of most significant campaigns that we have ever run.  Congratulations to everyone involved.  70 bereaved families have taken part in the research which is just amazing.  If you haven’t had the opportunity to have a look at this please see the attached research document, or here’s the practical “how to speak to bereaved parents” guide for friends and family: derianhouse.co.uk/bereavement and here’s a link to the video: Say My Child’s Name – YouTube.

That’s about it for now, have a great weekend everyone whatever you are doing…

MORE than eight out of 10 parents whose child has died said they feel sad that people don’t speak about their son or daughter, a new study into child loss has found.

Some bereaved parents even reported people crossing the street to avoid them and said they have lost friends because people don’t know how to act.

The research – conducted by Derian House Children’s Hospice and thought to be one of the largest studies of bereaved parents in the UK in recent years – found that 87% of parents felt nobody, other than close family, talks about their child anymore.

Researchers at the charity spoke to 70 families whose loss spanned more than three decades.

The over-riding finding was that that bereaved families desperately want you to talk about their child, and that nothing anyone can say will ever be as bad as simply avoiding the subject.

The research has been used by the charity to launch a campaign called “Say my Child’s Name”, which aims to tackle the stigma around child loss.

It has used the families’ own words to create a practical how-to guide for friends and family to help them know what to say and what not to say (see guide here: www.derianhouse.co.uk/bereavement)

A powerful video has also been created to spread the message on social media, which will launch at 9pm tonight. Watch here: Say My Child’s Name – YouTube.

Kiki Deville, Patron of Derian House Children’s Hospice, whose son Dexter died of Zellweger Syndrome in 2007, aged just one month and three days-old, said: “When your child dies, after a while nobody says their name anymore, and that really hurts.

“What we desperately want people to know is that speaking about our child won’t upset us or remind us that they’re gone – we are always thinking about them anyway. To a bereaved parent, our child’s name is the sweetest word in the whole world and we love nothing more than speaking about them.”

A total of 89 per cent of parents (62 people) said the effect worsened gradually over time and 64 per cent (45 people) even felt their child had been completely forgotten by family, friends and acquaintances.

59 per cent (35 people) per cent said their workplace didn’t understand. And many said medical professionals did not know how to speak to them sensitively following the loss of their child.

“We’re in a group that nobody wants to be part of,” said one parent in the research. “When I go out with my friends who have children as soon as I talk about my child who has died it becomes so awkward and uncomfortable for them. I feel so out of place at times.”

Derian House Children’s Hospice will use the results of the survey to educate the public and professionals on how they can help bereaved families.

This Christmas the charity is creating free personalised ink stamps for any bereaved parent, to help them remember their child when signing Christmas cards – an area they admitted to struggling with.

Karen Edwards OBE, Chief Executive of Derian House Children’s Hospice, said: “We are passionate about breaking down barriers and opening up the conversation around child loss at Derian House. Now, thanks to the generosity and bravery of the 70 families who opened their hearts to speak to us, we have been able to create a practical guide for everyone on how to speak to someone who has suffered the loss of a child.

“Nobody wants to upset someone whose child has died and so many people opt for the safe option and say nothing. What our families have told us is that this is the worst thing they could do – it makes them feel isolated and hurt.

“We are committed to spreading the Say my Child’s Name message, not only to help our families, but also to provide a useful resource for the general public and professionals.”

Good Morning,

Please can I just make you aware that we have no catering on site this weekend (18th/19th November) and the weekend of the 2nd/3rd December. With this is mind, please can you bring your own food. Please can I also ask that you make sure you wash your own dishes in order that we don’t have a build-up of plates/ cutlery over the weekend.

We will ensure we have food options available for our BCYPs and families over both weekends.

Many Thanks,

MONDAY 13^th

• Denise (Complementary Therapist) will be facilitating sessions of massage and reflexology to our children and young people this afternoon.

TUESDAY 14^th  

• Derian playgroup for our babies and toddlers will be held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30pm this morning.

• We’ll be making chocolate marshmallow sprinkles in the Messy PlayZone from 11:00am.

• Wrap up warm – it’s time for stories and hot chocolate around the fire pit this afternoon.

• Individual and group sessions of music therapy will be held in the Snug with Martha from 2:00pm today.

WEDNESDAY 15^th

• Crikey, mate! It’s Steve Urwin day, so we’ll be celebrating with animal and reptile craft fun in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Music teacher Rachel will be in the House Snug from 11:00am to entertain us all with an hour of sing-along fun.

• Join us in the Hub of the House for computer fun with Arron (Wellbeing & Play Worker) this afternoon.

THURSDAY 16^th

• Let’s scoop up all the leaves that Storm Debi has kindly left us behind for outdoor art in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Splish, splash – this afternoon, our in-house children and young people will be in the hydrotherapy pool.

• The third and final all staff briefing with Karen (CEO) will be held in the Conference Room from 11:30am – 12:30pm. Please attend this session if you haven’t already.

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be taking place in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

FRIDAY 17^th

• It’s World Prematurity Day, so we’ll be honouring it by doing purple art fun in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• To celebrate Children in Need, we’re going to be decorating our very own Pudsey Bear biscuits in Danni’s Diner after lunch.

• Friday Night Club for our Lodgers will be held in the Lodge from 7:00pm this evening.

SATURDAY 18^th

• It’s the Great Derian Treasure Hunt… solve the clues to find the hidden treasure in the hospice gardens!

• We’ll once again be donning our aprons in Danni’s Diner as we make some yummy baked treats to take home.

SUNDAY 19^th 

• You’ll find our children and young people in the hydrotherapy pool this morning.

• Let’s get our bodies moving, it’s Music and Movement with Claire (Wellbeing & Play Worker).

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Thursday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Good afternoon

Storm Debi appears to be getting stronger as the day goes on. Please can I request all staff do not use the Woodland Walk or the path to our gardens from the Lodge Driveway as a precaution from falling branches. Please take extra care when in all other external areas

Two sisters in their 70s have returned to their volunteering roles at their local children’s hospice – 30 years after their first shift.

Susan Sidebotham and Gillian Summerfield, of Chorley, arrived at Derian House Children’s Hospice in 1993 as two of the charity’s first ever volunteers.

The sisters eventually said goodbye to the hospice due to work and family commitments, but returned in October this year – during the hospice’s 30th anniversary year – to pick up where they left off.

Susan and Gill have been helping out for just a few hours a week with cleaning, washing up, and preparing food in the kitchen for the hospice families.

“We first heard about Derian House when the hospice was being built,” said Susan Sidebotham, 77, a retired civil servant.

“My sister and I came along when it had opened to see if they needed any volunteering help, and so we both started coming in the evening to help out with the cleaning duties. My sister and I had our very own tabards. I remember that we sewed little motifs onto them – mine had a teddy bear on and Gill’s had a clown.

“The hospice was much smaller back then and not quite as modern – I remember that it was fully carpeted. But I would say that the sensory room today is still as relaxing as I remember the original room to be.

“In the end, we made the decision to leave Derian House due to our other commitments with work and family at the time. It is only now, so many years on, and I saw that the hospice was looking to recruit some new volunteers. We’re retired now, so I said to my sister – let’s have a go! And here we are, after all these years.

“I think that it is absolutely marvelous that Derian House has been helping families for 30 years,” said Susan.

“The charity is so well known now throughout the country – it does feature quite frequently on the television. I just think it is an incredible place. I hope I can volunteer here for quite some time.”

Susan and her sister Gill both fit their volunteering hours in around their busy lifestyles – taking care of grandchildren and going to the gym.

“I wanted to volunteer at Derian because I had young daughters at the time and I felt I wanted to give something back,” said Gill Summerfield, 71, who is also a retired civil servant.

“So we started coming to the hospice in the evenings to do a bit of cleaning. The hospice has grown so much. I remember how different the kitchen and dining room looked when we were there, much smaller. I remember the swimming pool back then too.

“Then this year we saw that Derian House was on the hunt for new volunteers and so we decided to apply. There is such a lovely atmosphere at Derian House because everyone is so friendly and welcoming. I think a lot of people hear ‘hospice’ and automatically think it is a sad place, but it’s a wonderful happy place. I think it’s fantastic that the hospice is still here for families after it first opened 30 years ago.”

Frances Lees, Volunteer Services Coordinator at Derian House, said: “It’s fantastic that Susan and Gill have decided to return to support the families of Derian House all these years later – and during our 30th anniversary year too! They are both fantastic volunteers, we are very lucky to have them.

“There are so many good things about volunteering – it’s a great way to make new friends, learn something new, and do something for a good cause. Our volunteers saved us more than £100,000 in staff costs last year – we simply couldn’t do what we do without them!”

Derian House, based in Chorley, cares for more than 400 babies, children, young people and their families from across the North West and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Find out more: www.derianhouse.co.uk

Find out more about volunteering at Derian House: https://www.derianhouse.co.uk/volunteer-for-us

Hi everyone,

I know that parking is an issue on site and sometimes we have to block people in as it is the only way we can park but please if you have to do this can you let Reception know as they have a list of registration numbers so they can inform the person.

If it is after hours and there is no one on Reception please make every effort to find out who you have blocked in so that cars can be moved.

We’ve had some new recruits join the team over the last few weeks, so say hello if you haven’t already and help them get settled in!

Jo Fletcher – Clinical Support Worker

Our newest member of the Care Team is Jo, who joined us on our staff away day held at Brockholes at the beginning of September. She’s no stranger to healthcare, and has enjoyed a varied career working with children and young people who have learning difficulties and special needs.

After five years at Mayfield Special School, Jo felt that it was time to spread her wings, and wanted to join the team here at Derian House as she’d heard amazing things from her friends and now fellow staff members Danielle and Chantal.

At the time of writing, Jo was mostly looking forward to no two days ever being the same, meeting a variety of people and families, and also getting to know the place. We’re sure that by now she’s definitely learnt a lot and got stuck right in!

In the three months leading up to her starting date, Jo actually volunteered here at the hospice so she could get to grips with it all and learn about her new role.

When she’s not at work, Jo loves spending time with people, be it her friends, family, or the choir that she belongs to. She loves singing as an outlet and spends a great deal of time with her ‘Sing It Big’ fam.

Rebecca Shivji – Executive Assistant

The new executive to our leader Karen is Rebecca, who has joined the team after three and a half years at Bolton Lads & Girls Club, where she actually took on a totally different role as a bid writer within the charity’s Fundraising Team.

After seeing the work of Derian House through social media, Rebecca jumped at the opportunity to work here and enjoy the next stage of her career whilst still remaining in the charity sector.

Rebecca has many transferrable skills which are sure to help her within her new role here at the hospice, and is excited to work with Karen again after previously working under her leadership at BLGC.

A lot of Derian’s values align with Rebecca’s personal ones, and she’s excited about being part of an enthusiastic and passionate team who deliver outstanding care to over 400 families across the region.

When she’s not working, Rebecca loves spending as much time as possible with her six-year-old son Zachariah, going for walks in nature, and even writing poetry! She’s also a trained counsellor, mindfulness instructor, and reiki practitioner… is there anything she can’t do?!

Verity Harrison – Data Analyst

Derian’s new Data Analyst may have joined us on a temporary basis, but Verity has already made a massive impact in helping set up the Care Database over the last few weeks.

Verity worked for a long time within the NHS as a public health specialist, and within the team at Cancer Research for the past five years.

She’s taken on this role at Derian House mainly because she enjoys working within the charity sector, and has a large understanding of the NHS and the way it works – which is perfect for all of the data she’ll be working with whilst she’s here!

Outside of being a data queen, Verity loves reading and researching, and also fell running. She’s cat mum to Konstantine and Hades the cats… and (fun fact) Diana Vickers is her second cousin!

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who took part in the open day 30^th anniversary celebrations on Friday.

It was such a brilliant and uplifting day and I hope you all feel proud of being able to showcase the wonderful work we do here at Derian to members of the public and supporters.

A special well done to Gill, Ellie and Ann-Marie who co-ordinated the day, and also to all of the representatives on the 30^th anniversary group who have been working hard for a number of months on the plans for the open day event.

Whilst it will be difficult to measure the real impact of the open day (I’m sure it will spark many different opportunities for years to come), we have had some lovely outcomes and feedback that I wanted to share with you all.

• 102 people attended on the day.
• We received £3,133 in web donations and donations on the day – including two £1,000 donations and four new regular monthly givers signed up.
• We sold almost £400 worth of Derian goods on reception and another £80 in extra donations.
• We received excellent press coverage, with reports on BBC North West Tonight (https://tinyurl.com/3ne4jssx); ITV Granada Reports (Derian House Children’s Hospice celebrates 30th birthday | ITV News Granada); we were the top story on BBC Radio Lancashire and the Lancashire Post will be running a photo spread about the day.
• A number of visitors pledged to leave a legacy to Derian House in their Wills.
• Two large businesses have contacted us offering to help with volunteering and donations after seeing us on the news.

We have also received some lovely comments from visitors – here’s just a few…

“Wonderful place, for all our young people.” Amanda Parker JP, Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire.

“An amazing experience. I wish I could bottle the passion, enthusiasm, compassion and kindness that oozes throughout the whole building. The visit should be a must for every front line practitioner. Justin S, Lancashire Police.

“Happy birthday to all staff, volunteers, parents, families and children. Thank you for a special day.” Sam Sherrington, NHS England.

“Once again thank you for your kind invitation for Val and I to visit Derian House and be part of its 30th celebration. We both enjoyed our time with you and it was good to see old colleagues and meet new people, clearly the hospice is developing apace. The tour was both interesting and informative and along with the  hospitality and warm welcome made for and a truly special day. Finally the gold badge and the words inside the card were greatly appreciated.

Please pass on thanks to all concerned.” Trevor Briggs (Derian’s first Chief Executive)

See the official photographs of the day here: https://tinyurl.com/mrxxyrm3

TUESDAY 24^th

• We’ll be welcoming a batch of our families to Family Day Care for half term Halloween fun today from 10:00am – 3:00pm.

• We’re collecting leaves around the gardens this morning, ready for our wreath-making activity this afternoon in the Messy PlayZone.

• Say hello to our new Horwich Shop Assistant Andrea Kilcommins, who will be here at the hospice today for her induction.

WEDNESDAY 25^th

• Join our children and young people for sensory ten pin bowling fun in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Music teacher Rachel will be in the House Snug from 11:00am to entertain us all with an hour of sing-along fun.

• Put your coats on, we’re off on a walk to Astley Park (weather permitting).

THURSDAY 26^th

• Greenhouse gardening fun with Gareth the gardener will kick off today’s activities.

• Shuna will be visiting us this morning with her human Linda for pet therapy fun for all.

• Splish, splash – this afternoon, our in-house children and young people will be in the hydrotherapy pool

• School’s Out! Our lads will be meeting today at the hospice from 10:00am for an action-packed day filled with fun.

• Caroline (Wellbeing & Play Worker) will be facilitating swimming lessons in the hydrotherapy pool this evening.

FRIDAY 27^th

• Let’s get ready for spooky season with pumpkin carving and decorating fun in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Join us in Danni’s Diner for pumpkin pie making this afternoon.

• Friday Night Club for our Lodgers will be held in the Lodge from 7:00pm this evening.

SATURDAY 28^th

• The Youth Family Drop-In will take place throughout the Lodge today from 1:30pm – 3:00pm.

• Our bereaved Derian Mums will meet in the Seaside Room for their monthly session between 10:00am – 12:00pm.

• Conkers? Acorns? What will we find in our autumn scavenger hunt around the hospice gardens?

• Tina (Wellbeing & Play Coordinator) will lead an autumn guided journey followed by hand massages this afternoon.

• Our pet therapy labradoodle Tallulah will join us at the hospice with her human Clare for more pet therapy.

SUNDAY 29^th  

• We’ll be occupying our time today with leaf-themed paper plate sun catcher making in the Messy PlayZone today.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Thursday the week before.

Have a great week everyone!