Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Richmond visit their local children’s hospice charity

THE Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Richmond were welcomed to Shooting Star House in Hampton recently, to find out more about the important care and support Shooting Star Children’s Hospices provide to those in their community.

Shooting Star Children’s Hospices support families who have a baby, child or young person with a life-limiting condition, or who have been bereaved, across south-west London, north-west London and Surrey, offering a breadth of services to support the whole family.

During their first visit, the Mayor, Cllr Suzette Nicholson and Deputy Mayor, Cllr Fiona Sacks, took time to speak to members of the Shooting Star team, including Louisa Atherton, one of the charity’s Family Support Workers. Louisa shared the vital work she and her team do to help families facing the unimaginable, highlighting the charity’s recent expansion of its bereavement service. They also spoke to Beth Jefferies, Physiotherapist, about the huge benefits of having a hydrotherapy pool on-site for the families they support.

They also spoke to the charity’s Chief Executive Paul Farthing, who shared the policy pressures Shooting Star are facing as a charity providing palliative and end-of-life care to children, before being met by Karen Sugarman MBE, Executive Vice-President and Beverley Danckert, Community Fundraising Manager, for a tour of Shooting Star House.

Paul Farthing said:

“We were very pleased to welcome the Mayor and Deputy Mayor so we could share the news of the extension of our bereavement offer to support many more families that have lost a child. We want to work closely with our local authority partners and together we can do more for local families.”

First opening its doors in 2005, Shooting Star House offers families access to specialised bereavement support, counselling, art therapies, complementary therapies, siblings’ groups, mums, dads and grandparents’ groups, drop-in sessions, family activities and interactive play sessions. Most recently, their new weekly bereavement café, welcomes families to drop in, come together and enjoy a coffee with the Family Support Workers and Counsellors who are there to chat and listen.

The Mayor said:

“I and the Deputy Mayor were pleased to be asked to visit Shooting Star House in Hampton and hear about all the effort that is required for the necessary fundraising to keep their services running. The place is bright and cheerful, and it was great to hear about how the setting is being used to offer support to bereaved families. Thank you to all who took the time to speak to us and share the work of Shooting Star.”