Our work with schools
The Dragonfly Project is an example of our work with schools; community education scheme that reduces anxiety and opens up conversations about death and grief. A partnership between Dorothy House and Winsley Primary School, this creative project invites Year 6 pupils to the Hospice to take part in a series of creative arts workshops as an opportunity to learn and understand topics related to palliative illness.
Conversations about death and grief
The Dragonfly Project plays a crucial role in actively destigmatising death, creating a safe and supportive space for children to explore this challenging topic. Feedback from our 2023 project shared stories of children going home to have conversations are death and dying which has been helpful for families dealing with palliative illness and or bereavement.
Navigating change
Taking place as a series of four workshops over a month, the Dragonfly Project aims to place an emphasis on change and journey, for both the children and patients, as the children move on to secondary school and patients receiving a diagnosis which may impact their lives in different ways.
As well as this, the project brings us closer to the community, demystifying what happens at the Hospice.
In 2023, the project returned after a hiatus of four years due to Covid, and over the four weeks, the children spent time with Ros and Bethan, our Creative Therapy team, making artwork with staff, volunteers and day patients.
Workshop overview
Dorothy House Ambassadors for Young People
Charity Ambassador Sir Al Aynsley Green, a trained children’s physician, clinical scientist, and ex-President of the British Medical Association, has been a champion for improving the lives of children and young people, of which he has spent many years channelling his wealth of experience into.
Our Young Person’s Ambassador Seb Chester-Phillips experienced navigating grief in school when he lost his mum to cancer in 2015. Below, he shares his story of working closely with the Hospice’s bereavement services and their investment in supporting schools development programmes to better support young people with grief.
Seb Chester-Phillips and the Dorothy House Nature Trail
Our Young Person’s Ambassador, Seb Chester-Phillips visited our Interactive Nature Trail just before it opened on 19 May and shared his personal reflections on what nature means to him since the death of his mum, Amanda in 2016. Seb is generously using his personal experience of losing his mum aged 12, not only to offer support to young people who are sadly grieving the death of a parent but also to help educate and inform our community about the importance of destigmatising death for young people.