New Living Well sessions

Our Living Well sessions have now started taking place at your new Hospice in Farnham!

Our Living Well team cares for patients who need support earlier in their illness, helping them to manage symptoms such as breathlessness, anxiety and nausea, engage in activities which are important to them, and live life as fully and independently as possible. The team runs two eight-week programmes – Living Well with Illness and the Creative programme. Each offers a weekly two-hour session which focuses on a different topic. Living Well with Illness covers topics such as food and nutrition, sleep, mood, and exercise, while our Creative programme includes activities which patients can take part in, such as Confidence with Cooking, Mindfulness with Clay, and Therapy through Nature. At these sessions, they can share their thoughts and experiences, make friends, and find peer support, which boosts their confidence and self-esteem.  

The sessions are held in the new Hospice’s Wellbeing Centre, a light and spacious room with large concertina doors which open out onto an accessible garden area, where raised flower beds mean patients can easily smell and touch the plants. The Wellbeing Centre is also where we hold a number of other sessions for our patients and carers.

Our pamper days, led by our complementary therapists, offer patients and carers a range of treatments such as massage and reflexology, as well as haircuts, manicures or pedicures, and a shared lunch to enjoy together. At our patient and carer drop-in sessions, we offer advice and guidance on matters such how to claim benefits, and can also signpost to other support that is available. Our weekly Artscape group offers patients the opportunity to express their feelings and emotions through various art media, and our Listening Lounge sessions offer bereaved relatives and carers a place where they can meet others and find support and understanding. Whilst your new Hospice was being built, all these sessions were held at the Beacon Centre in Guildford, but now your new Hospice is open they will run at both sites.

“It’s wonderful to be able to hold these sessions at the new Hospice, and our patients are really impressed with the Wellbeing Centre,” said Rachel Copes, Living Well sister at Phyllis Tuckwell. “The sessions are so important in supporting patients earlier in their illness, and the Wellbeing Centre is perfectly designed for them.”