The best job in the world

Children’s hospice care is about helping families make magical memories in the time they have together – so that’s what we give them. We’ve had life-sized dinosaurs in the garden, bubble shows, accessible zip-wires and paddling pools full of slime. 

The team and I deliver activities at the hospice and in the community. We’re supported by the brilliant clinical team, who ensure that everyone stays safe and comfortable while they’re having fun.  

Making memories

When we think about making memories, we often think of the big experiences first. Going on a family holiday, meeting a favourite celebrity or achieving a long-held ambition are all great, but often it’s the simplest experiences that mean the most. 

Take our wheelchair bike, for example. For a lot of people, riding a bike is one of the defining experiences of childhood. Most of us probably remember how we felt when we mastered the pedals, or how much it hurt the first time we fell off. For many of us, it’s our first taste of freedom.    

It’s something a lot of us take for granted. But if you’re in a wheelchair, it’s a thrill you might never get to experience. Our wheelchair bike was donated by a bereaved family in honour of their daughter and their generosity is helping many other families make amazing memories together. Because we’re here for the whole family too – parents, siblings, grandparents and more.  

During the summer, we supply families with a picnic and a map and send them out to explore the surrounding country lanes. It’s a simple pleasure, but it’s something they wouldn’t usually be able to do together, so it means the world. 

For many of us, festivals are a highlight of the summer months. There’s something special about getting together with friends and family to enjoy good food and music. But for many of the children we care for, it’s either impossible or requires an extraordinary degree of planning. 

That’s why we stage our own event, Chestival, where our families can dance, sing, relax or just join in however works best for them. Everyone is treated to a jam-packed day of performances from local bands, musicians and performers. The best part – and what makes Chestival unique – is that everyone can relax, knowing that expert clinical care is on hand if needed. 

Thinking outside the box 

As well as leading activities and events here at the hospice, my team visits children in their homes and in hospital. Some children spend months on a ward, and having a visit from someone who is there solely to entertain them relieves their boredom and means their family can take a break.  

There’s a lot of planning in this job, but you also need to be able to work outside of a plan. My team is full of people that are creative, impulsive, spontaneous and childlike – and we’re supported by the brilliant clinical team, who ensure that everyone stays safe and comfortable while they’re having fun. One day last summer, one of the children said they fancied a water fight. Within half an hour we were all pirates with three different bases, all battling to capture the flag.   

Everyone in the Activities Team brings their own skills to the table. My background in theatre and music means that I’ve accompanied a lot of family-sing-alongs, with everyone shouting out requests. Other members of the team have the softer touch, and they’ve had beautiful ideas such as pamper sessions for mothers and daughters. Sometimes I’ll see them approach mums and dads and ask if they’d like a hand massage – just to give them five minutes to themselves.  

The importance of play 

Obviously, there are a lot of important and responsible things that go with this job, but you won’t find one person in the team who doesn’t have childlike qualities – energy, enthusiasm and zest for life. It’s important to maintain that playful spirit even on the saddest days. We are still working with children, after all. Often, play is the most important thing you can do to support siblings when families are staying with us for end-of-life care. While parents are spending time with their sick child, we look after their siblings. Children grieve very differently to adults and sometimes play, or physical activity, is the best outlet for their feelings. Once, I spent the whole day on a trampoline with a boy whose sister had died. Children grieve differently to adults and it’s very important to create a space where they can grieve in a way that’s appropriate to them.  

Setting the stage 

I believe I have the best job in the world, but it’s not a career path I even considered until my mum sent me the job advert five years ago, saying ‘This sounds like you!’  My background is in theatre and education, but I was looking for something new and this was the perfect fit. People often ask if I miss performing, but I don’t. Still, there are elements of theatre in what we do here. It’s all about setting the stage for children and families to create magical memories. Sometimes I’m the director, sometimes the set designer – but the children always take centre stage.   

Essentially, my team and I are a bunch of stagehands, running back and forth with toys, books and materials to support the stories the children are creating.    

I get a lot of requests to play FIFA (I know, I know – it’s one of the hardest parts of the job!). Even that has an element of theatre. I’ll stoke the rivalries, make up my own chants about my team and sing them to the kids while we’re battling it out. We’ll spend a whole afternoon playing FIFA, singing at the top of our lungs and the nurses will be walking past rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. When we play each other, it is like we’re in Wembley – and that’s how much it matters at that moment.   

Recently, two of the lads on our caseload were superstar DJs for the day. Some of our children lack the motility to use a DJ deck but we have an incredible piece of kit that helps them create their own music. Suddenly we were transported to Ibiza, and I’d given them their own DJ name. I was dancing in the crowd and then other staff came and danced as well. Everyone was cheering and whooping.