Referrals for urgent bereavement care

What is urgent bereavement care?

Our urgent bereavement care service is for families who have recently experienced a death of a child.

Referrals can be made for any child or young person in our catchment area, including those not known to Chestnut Tree House, following a sudden unexpected death.

We can support families and carers with a holistic approach to bereavement, including: care of the body, emotional support for the family, practical advice and support around funerals and spiritual care. Our bereavement suite, Stars, is available to lay the deceased to rest for up to 14 days if the family want to use that facility. We also offer support in their own home for up to 72 hours.

Referral criteria:

Please make sure you have read the below criteria before getting in touch:

• The child has recently died: within three months of the referral being made.
• The family must live in our catchment area: East and West Sussex, Brighton & Hove, Portsmouth and South East Hampshire.
• The child who has died is between the ages of birth* to 18 years old.
• Please make sure the family know and understand that they are being referred.

*We accept referrals for babies who are unlikely  to survive full term or birth, or have known to have died in utero from 24 weeks gestation/six months.