Services

The Admiral Nurses at Dementia UK provide information, advice and support with any aspect of dementia.

The specialist dementia nurses offer free and confidential support via the Helpline for you when you need help.

Age UK provide information and support on financial, legal, health and wellbeing for older people. They support via their advice line, befriending service and day centres.

The Alzheimer's Society dementia advisors can help people living with dementia and their carers. They can provide practical help and emotional support via the telephone support or the online community connecting those in similar situations.

Asthma + Lung UK provides help for those living with lung conditions.

There is support available using the telephone helpline or the email address above.

Bereavement Support available with a bereavement counsellor online: https://www.ataloss.org/live-chat

A community pharmacy which stocks common palliative medicines to support people being cared for at home

Address: 55-57 Eastwood Road, Rayleigh, SS6 7JE

Opening hours: Monday to Friday 8.00am to 9.00pm. Saturday 9.00am to 5.00pm. Sunday 10.00am to 5.00pm.

Bereavement Advice Centre provides practical help when you need it most. They support and advise people on what they need to do after a death.

Bliss offers a wide range of free services for the families of premature and sick babies including a video call support service.

The support group is a way to learn more about living with a lung condition and share your experiences and stories with others.

The British Heart Foundation provides information on heart and circulatory diseases.

Patients and carers can get support through the online support groups and communities, advice and guidance about heart and circulatory conditions and managing risk factors.

The British Lymphology Society provides a directory of Lymphoedema treatment services.

Use the website address above to find your local services.

A community pharmacy which stocks common palliative medicines to support people being cared for at home

Address: Queensway Surgery, 75 Queensway, Southend On Sea, SS1 2AB

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 8.00am to 11.00pm. Sunday 10.00am to 8.00pm.

The Childhood Bereavement Network (CBN) is the hub for those working with bereaved children, young people and their families across the UK. Support is provided by the network members.

Offer a telephone support service for bereaved young people up to age 25, their families/ carers or individuals or families who have lost a child. 

Child Death Helpline is operated by a dedicated team of volunteers who are all bereaved parents. The helpline provides support to a parent who has lost a child of any age, under any circumstances, and however recently or long ago, we’re here to help. They also offer support to grandparents, siblings and the extended family, as well as professionals who have been impacted by the death of a child.

The Children's Community Nursing Team (CCN Team) provides clinical nursing care for children and young people with complex and ongoing clinical health needs in the community. The team cares for children and young people between the ages of 0 – 18 years who would need to return to hospital or their GP for their health care needs.

CRUSE Bereavement care helps people through bereavement with support, information and campaigning.

A community pharmacy which stocks common palliative medicines to support people being cared for at home

Address: 1065 London Road, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 3JP

Opening hours: Monday to Friday 8.00am to 11.00pm. Saturday 8.00am to 9.00pm. Sunday 8.00am to 11.00pm.

Fair Havens Community Team provides assessment, support advice and care for people wishing to be cared  and supported in their locality community setting. Support is available for those in care homes.

The team is available 24 hours a day, at the end of the phone, for advice and support, to arrange additional home visits. Visits to Fair Havens Hub, the Rapid access service or In Patient Unit is also available.

The Bereavement team supports family members, friends, children and carers through pre and post bereavement. The support is available to anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one who was cared for by the Hospice. 

Referrals may be made either by a patient or carer, or any professional directly involved in the patient’s care. Anyone making a referral must have the consent of the patient.

Fair Havens In Patient Unit provides assessment and management of physical symptoms that are proving difficult to control, such as pain, nausea, vomiting, and breathlessness. Respite care is also available for short stays enabling their carers to rest and recuperate. There are 8 beds in the unit.

Some patients may only require a stay for a few days before going home again. Some people choose to receive hospice care several times during their illness, depending on their condition and their wishes.

Fair Havens Hub offers a wide range of facilities, activities, and therapies to enhance wellbeing, help people live independently with their condition for longer and help make the most of life:

• Physiotherapists can help with a range of symptoms through groups and individual sessions
• Occupational Therapists can help with rehabiltation, assessment and advice
• Wellbeing and spiritual support for patients, their carers and family members

There is a legal requirement that a death be registered within five working days. It is important to let the Register Office know if the funeral is to be held within 24 hours. The person registering the death must be able to provide some basic details of the person who has died. Please take the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death to the Register Office. It is also helpful to take the person’s birth and marriage certificates, passport or NHS Medical Card, although they are not essential.

Use the web link above to find your local register office by entering your postcode.

Grief Encounter is a national charity offering a free helpline and online support for children and young people wishing to access bereavement support.

They also offers counselling support in classrooms, online or at their premises in North London. A referral form is available on their website.

The team provides internal and external end of life care education.

The Hospice Rapid Access Service is a 24 hour services for people with a primary health need, who are rapidly deteriorating, and likely to be entering the terminal phase of their illness. 

Havens Hospices, St Lukes Hospice and Farleigh Hospice work together as a collaborative to ensure consistency of care across all of Mid and South Essex.

The Hospices will assess the care needs of the patient and source care that meets the holistic needs of the patient.  This could be care in the home, on an in-patient unit, or in a Nursing Home.

Havens Hospices – havenshospices.rapidaccess@nhs.net (Southend, Castle Point and Rochford)

Farleigh Hospice -  contactteam.fh@nhs.net (Chelmsford, Maldon and the Dengie, Braintree and the surrounding areas)

St Luke’s Hospice - Stlukes.oneresponse@nhs.net (Basildon and Thurrock)

Hospice UK can help find a hospice, provide infromation and support about end of life care and guidance to plan ahead.

The network is committed to providing information on available resources related to the field of children’s palliative care. 

Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service has counsellors that understand the specific issues raised by bereavement within a Jewish context. This service is sensitive, aware and knowledgeable about social, cultural and religious needs.

Little Havens provides specialist care and support for babies, children and young people requiring specialist in-patient care for symptom management, respite and end of life care.

The Lullaby Trust raises awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), provides expert advice on safer sleep for babies and offers emotional support for bereaved families.

LymphConnect is an online platform developed to help manage lymphoedema or lipoedema, understand more about the condition, share experiences and get support and advice.

Macmillan provide cancer information, support and help everyone with cancer live life as fully as they can.

Visit the website to get help with paying bills, advice on benefits or treatment, or to just chat.

Marie Curie provide support for patients and carers through terminal illness.

Find information and support through the telephone helpline and online chat via their website.

Other services include Marie Curie nurses, Hospice care, helper and companion services.

The Muslim Bereavement Support Service supports Muslim women who are facing bereavement and/or are bereaved. They will speak with Muslim men and signpost them to appropriate bereavement support. 

Pumping Marvellous offers support to help people live well with heart failure, to recognise the early symptoms and self-interventions through their community hub.

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity supports families who have a child aged 0 to18 years with a life-threatening or terminal illness.

Samaritans provides a 24 hour, 7 days a week advice line.

St Luke's Hospice provides the specialist Lymphoedema care team could provide care to you if you are living with primary Lymphoedema, secondary Lymphoedema and Lipoedema. The team can provide clinical expertise, support and practical help for those with any these conditions and live across South Essex.

Stillbirth and neonatal death (Sands) is the leading stillbirth and neonatal death charity in the UK. They ensure that anyone affected by the death of a baby receives the best possible care and support for as long as they need it. 

Sands provides bereavement support services both nationally through its Freephone helpline, mobile app, online community and resources, and locally through a UK-wide network of around 100 regional support groups. 

The Foundation is a worldwide organisation, American based, whose purpose is to promote awareness, fund research and serve those affected by sudden unexplained death in childhood.

Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide are a national charity providing dedicated support to adults who have been bereaved by suicide. The volunteers come from all walks of life but nearly all have been touched by suicide themselves, this experience enables them to connect with others.

The Association for Paediatric Palliative Medicine represents all doctors, nurses and allied health professionals working in the area of Paediatric Palliative Medicine in hospital, hospice and community settings. It seeks to support practice and training for all doctors and other health professionals working in this area of medicine. 

The Bereavement Journey runs an online course three times per year for anyone in the UK who isn’t able to access an in-person course near to where they live, or who would prefer an online course.

The Compassionate Friends (TCF) is a charitable organisation of bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents dedicated to the support and care of other similarly bereaved family members who have suffered the death of a child or children of any age and from any cause.

Get support using the telephone helpline or online support groups.

The Good Grief Trust helps all those affected by grief in the UK and brings bereavement services together, to ensure that everyone receives the tailored support they need to move forward with their lives.

The trust is run by the bereaved, for the bereaved and aim to normalise grief and raise awareness of the impact of grief on a national platform. 

Together for Short Lives have a helpline and family support hub to provide help and advice foir those caring for a child with a serious illness.

The wellbeing team offer a range of life-enhancing therapies, help with accessing benefits and local services. They provide emotional, mental health, social, and spiritual support.

Widowed and young (WAY) is a UK charity that offers a peer-to-peer support network for anyone who's lost a partner before their 51st birthday – married or not, with or without children, inclusive of sexual orientation, gender, race and religion.

Winston's Wish is a national charity offering a free helpline and online support for children and young people wishing to access bereavement support.

They also provide resources and further training for schools and healthcare professions.

Young lives vs Cancer support those under 25 with cancer, and their families, to get the help they need during their cancer treatment and beyond, including bereaved families living with emotional pain. 

Young Minds is a national charity which supports both young people, their parents and loved ones through loss.