Why I’m here for you – staff stories

“I get to make someone’s life a little bit easier”

Jonathan is a social worker and our child and family support team lead

I joined Chestnut Tree House in the summer of 2024. I’ve worked with children throughout my career but years ago, before I qualified as a social worker, I worked in the play team at a children’s hospice. That was my introduction to children’s palliative care, and it made a big impression on me.

As social workers, we work closely with families and our Local Authority partners to advocate for children, young people and families and help them navigate the complex systems of health and social care.

I feel so privileged to be a part of Chestnut Tree House and stand beside our families.

Of course, this job comes with difficult days. Children’s hospices are wonderful places, full of love and joy, but there are also moments of great sadness. I deal with that by remembering that feeling sad is part of being human. We all bring our own personal experiences with death to this job as well, so there might be some things that trigger us, and I think Chestnut Tree House is very good at providing us with support.

Working with Chestnut families – whether that’s with the children, their parents or their siblings – you can make someone’s life a little bit easier. We also help them get as much as they can out of life, and that’s a wonderful thing.

Jonathan works with families to help them navigate the complex systems of health and social care

“Building a relationship with families is what makes coming to work so special”

Martin is a housekeeping assistant

I do all my work to the best of my ability, but I take extra care when I’m cleaning Stars, our bereavement suite.

That’s because my son, Reece, died suddenly when he was four years old. Reece was born very prematurely, at 33 weeks. He had Down Syndrome and only weighed three-and-a-half pounds when he was born, so he was on the neonatal unit at St Richard’s for three months.

As he got older, he always had a cough or a cold – we kept antibiotics at home, just in case, so we didn’t have to keep taking him to hospital.

Everybody just fell in love with him. He was so cheeky. He loved socks – eating them, mainly – and he loved girls. He always wanted to play with their hair!

On the day he died he had a mild cough, but it was a normal day – he went to nursery, then had his favourite dinner, which was cottage pie. His death in the night was a terrible shock. We later found out that he had Strep A and bronchial pneumonia.

When the time came for his funeral, I wanted everything to be perfect for him. People said it was the saddest funeral they’d ever been to, but also the most beautiful – it was all bright colours, a celebration of him because he was such a happy boy.

I take my time making sure Stars is perfect for the families that use it, because I know something about how they feel. Those people go through so much, and I just want to do everything in my power to support them. I was lucky: I had four years with Reece. Not everyone gets that long.

Building a relationship with families – and sometimes sharing my own story too – is what makes coming to work here so special. I always say I want to retire here – that’s how much I love it.

Housekeeping assistant Martin takes great pride in supporting families through his work at Chestnut Tree House.