It’s Children’s Grief Awareness Week 17–23 November and this year’s theme is Sharing Stories, Strengthening Hope. Simone, a senior staff nurse at Martlets, explains how we help to support children and bereaved families, giving them hope to face the future.
“Children’s Grief Awareness Week is designed to raise awareness of bereaved children and young people in the UK. Providing those affected with free professional support can make the world of difference to their future. Here at Martlets, supporting families is a crucial part of the care we offer and that includes facilitating conversations between children and their loved ones about illness, grief and loss.
I am part of a team here at Martlets that ensures we’re providing the best provision we can for children and young people whose loved ones are in our care. It’s part of our role to ensure that the staff on our inpatient wards have the confidence and knowledge to offer this support and help them make time to have those important conversations. It’s all about strengthening hope for those we care for.
Who should speak with a child about difficult news?
Ideally, it is a child’s primary carer, someone close to them whom they trust, that is the best person to share news about a loved one who is ill and dying. A lot of the questions and the deeper discussions about it aren’t going to come up in that first conversation, they’re going to come up later. So we want to equip primary carers, patients and family members with the confidence to continue talking about these topics when children ask questions down the line.
Our leaflet What to say to children when someone they love is dying is available to read online or download and print (we also have printed copies at the hospice). It provides a lot of useful information on how to talk to children of different ages about death, dying and loss, and explains some of the behaviours you might expect to see in these circumstances.
Supporting children and families at Martlets
It is important that people have space for those conversations whether at home or when they are with us at the hospice. If I were an inpatient, I would want to be able to see my children interacting in a natural way when they visit; Martlets really enables that. Our patient rooms are spacious and comfortable with ensuite bathrooms. They also have larger ‘cuddle beds’ and sofabeds to lounge on. This avoids visitors having to crowd around the bed on chairs (which can sometimes feel overwhelming for patients) and allows for more natural interaction. We’ve also got a designated family area where families can have a bit of time out of the patient room if they need to and to feel comfortable. The gardens allow for family relationships to play out more naturally too.
For further information, please visit:
Talking to children about illness, dying and bereavement
Supporting children under 18 years old (video)
Updated: 10/11/2025