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At St Barnabas we know how difficult it can be to live with a life-limiting or terminal illness. We understand this affects not just the person with the condition, but also their family, friends and carers.
Below you will find information about our counselling, bereavement and spiritual support.
We also have support groups available including creative groups, coffee mornings, condition-specific groups and more. Choose your area to find out what support groups are available near you:
Counselling
We offer free one-to-one counselling to the patients of St Barnabas, their family members, friends and carers.
Emotional or psychological distress, increased anxiety and worry is not uncommon among people affected by life-limiting or terminal illness. Talking about your thoughts and feelings in a safe and sensitive way with a trained counsellor can help.
Our counselling support can be accessed face-to-face within one of our Wellbeing Centres or in your own home by telephone or video call.
To access support, speak to your St Barnabas healthcare professional, or to refer yourself directly call us on 01522 518 246 or email [email protected].
Bereavement support
Bereavement support is available to any adult affected by grief, not just the family and friends of those cared for by the Hospice. To access our bereavement support, you must be over the age of 18, registered with a Lincolnshire GP, and the bereavement must be of an adult.
Helpline
Our Bereavement Helpline is supported by trained volunteers who will offer you the time to talk about your grief and how it might be affecting you. They will offer you support emotionally, psychologically and practically. They may also signpost you to other services that may benefit you.
If they identify that ongoing bereavement support is needed, they will refer you to the counselling team for one-to-one bereavement support. Healthcare professionals can also ring the helpline to refer a person in for bereavement support.
Our Helpline is open Monday to Friday, 11:00am to 3:00pm.
Call us on 0300 303 1897.
Bereavement Cafés
Our bereavement cafes are a safe environment for you to drop in for a coffee, to access support not only from the St Barnabas bereavement team but also from other bereaved people in your own community, with the hope of continuing peer to peer support outside of the café.
Currently, we have the following sessions up and running, free of charge for anyone to come to, without a prior appointment:
- 10am to 12pm – First and third Tuesday of every month at our Grantham Wellbeing Centre, 86 Barrowby Road, Grantham, NG31 8AF
- 2pm to 4pm – First and third Tuesday of every month at our Boston Wellbeing Centre – Novak House, Resolution Close, Boston, PE21 7TT
Please stay up to date with our Social Media channels to find out more information about our future sessions at our other Wellbeing Centres across Lincolnshire.
Spiritual care
We are here for people of all faiths and none.
Spiritual care addresses a person’s understanding of life, hope, meaning, and purpose. It helps us connect with the things in our lives that provide strength, comfort, and peace.
During difficult times, questions may arise about mortality, hope, purpose and meaning, that are hard for us to face and understand.
Our Spiritual Care Team can provide a listening ear or help you re-connect with your sources of peace and meaning through religion, meditation, or other spiritual support.
Spiritual care is available in the Inpatient Unit in Lincoln, Hospice in the Hospital in Grantham and those accessing Hospice at Home. There are Sanctuary spaces in our buildings, available to all, that offer a place of quiet and peacefulness.
At St Barnabas we want to make sure that your beliefs/spiritual paths are understood and built into your care at every level.
The Spiritual Care Team is made up of chaplains, spiritual care champions and volunteers.
Spiritual care can help you:
- Wrestle with questions such as ‘why me?’
- Remember achievements
- Identify worries and anxieties
- Name the things you are thankful for
- Talk about the good and difficult things that have happened in your life
- Find peace in prayer or meditation
- Connect with faith practices that offer comfort and strength
- Talk about your spirituality and why it’s important to you
- Pray
- Talk about the people who’ve been important to you
- Identify what gives comfort
- Offer a place of honesty to explore any difficult feelings
Speak to a member of staff to arrange a visit from our Spiritual Care team.
A simple meditation
Sit or lie as comfortably as possible and close your eyes
Spend a couple of minutes becoming aware of your breathing – notice the breath going in and out.
Recall a time when you experienced love – it could be the excited welcome of a beloved pet, the warmth of a hug from a friend or family member, the delighted smile of a baby, the kindness of a stranger – remember the feeling, its warmth, the sense of wellbeing, the delight.
Stay with those feelings for a few moments – imagine them sending light through your whole body.
Become aware of your breathing – notice the breath going in and out.
Gently open your eyes and bring yourself back into the present moment.
A blessing for the journey
Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you
Wellbeing services we offer
Support the Hospice
Each year we need to raise around £6.5million – can you help us support others?
