Talking about our feelings during bereavement can be extremely difficult, especially for children and young people who may not understand what they're feeling or how to express their feelings.

At Rainbows, we're here to help - and one way we do this is by offering support for bereaved siblings. This is available in the form of one-to-one support and group support.

One-to-one support:

Coronavirus - on any one day, at any moment I can feel confused PROUD, frightened, PROUD, responsible, PROUD, sad, PROUD, worried, PROUD, emotional, PROUD, overwhelmed, PROUD, committed, PROUD. 

We’re in uncertain times at the moment, with many of us working from home and home schooling. It can (and does) feel strange, but here at Rainbows we’re trying to keep things as normal and positive as possible. 

Our shops have closed and we may have temporarily stopped our respite and day care services – but we’re still providing our end of life care, family and bereavement support, as well as increasing our virtual and online support services.

One of the biggest barriers to volunteering is the lack of time, or potentially the perceived lack of time. Don’t worry we understand, nowadays everyone is busy. Especially if you’re studying, you may or may not have a paid job and we’re certainly not asking you to miss the social stuff – that’s half the fun of being a student! 

But, what if we told you volunteering could be the social stuff? 

We’re thrilled to announce that we’re taking part in this year’s Giving Tuesday campaign and we’re encouraging all our supporters to join us, because everyone has something to give.

Giving Tuesday originally began in America back in 2012, as a way to give back following the spending spree of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In 2014, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) brought it to the UK, with the aim of encouraging people to think of others in the run up to Christmas; and for the third consecutive year we’re proud to be supporting the campaign.

The annual Paediatric Therapy Hospice Conference, for Physiotherapists & Occupational Therapists provides an invaluable opportunity for professional networking and sharing of best practice amongst Allied Healthcare Professionals working within this field. As always, it was by far the most relevant professional conference to our roles as physiotherapists here at Rainbows, significantly contributing to our knowledge base, skill sets and therapy provision. 

One of the best ways to support Rainbows is to put on a fundraising event for us (or take part in one of our organised events). You can do this in your spare time - it’s great fun and very rewarding. To kick-start your fundraising, we’ve highlighted 25 fun ways to fundraise for us during our 25th year!

Brew can do it! 

Those of us in the Supporter Relations and other non-Clinical teams don’t always get to see the day to day workings of the Hospice up close. But as fundraisers, it’s really important that we see first-hand where the money we raise goes – and can communicate this to our donors. For that reason, we now have a shadowing scheme - we each spend one day on shift with a member of the Care Team, learning all about their roles, interacting with the children and young people and seeing the Hospice through the eyes of our families.

I am the new Chief Executive here at Rainbows. A seasoned nurse with lots of palliative care experience. I thought I was emotionally prepared as I embarked on my new career… nothing could prepare me for my Rainbows moments. 

WSP, a global Engineering Services company, have been supporting Rainbows from their Derby office since the summer of 2016. In that time the team have been busy fundraising, including a group who abseiled the Cathedral tower in Derby, the second highest in the country! The office also nominated a project at Rainbows to receive a grant from the company foundation for some new multi-sensory equipment. Although we didn’t win, the application was highly commended and did receive some partial funding which has moved us closer to buying the equipment.