Our care

Our services

We offer a total package of practical, social and spiritual support throughout each child’s life.

From specially trained nurses to activity coordinators, counsellors and care support workers – we all work closely together to help you enjoy time as a family, have fun, and make as many precious memories as possible. You’ll also have a key worker – either a nurse or care support worker – who will support you and your child throughout your time with us and work with you to develop an individualised care plan.

A team of local GPs provide a 24-hour on call service 365 days a year and we often work in partnership with other voluntary or statutory services.

During a child’s stay with us we have lots of different services we can offer to help support their individual needs. Follow the links below to find out more about what we offer:

Care at Chestnut Tree House

Some children and families use the hospice for short breaks. It’s surrounded by beautiful countryside and packed full of specialist facilities for your child to enjoy, such as a hydrotherapy pool, sensory room, music room and computer/gaming room. You may like to stay as a family or let us look after your child while you go on holiday or take a well-deserved rest.

For those who do stay, we have rooms for families with en-suite bathrooms and access to a family lounge where you can relax. All meals are provided if you’d like them, and you can choose to visit the nearby town of Arundel, go on stunning local walks or take a trip to the beach. However you decide to unwind, while you’re here your child will be cared for by our specialist team and there will be lots of opportunities for you to enjoy quality time together as a family.

Care in your own home

As well as care provided at The House, your key worker can also visit you at home. This usually happens once a month, but can vary, and how you use this time is up to you.

It might be that you want to have a day out with friends, spend some time with your other children, or just catch up on a few hours’ sleep while we care for your child. We can also take your child out on fun trips to the local park, bowling alley or beach, and you’re welcome to join if you wish and spend time together while we take care of all their medical needs.

Child having fun at Chestnut Tree House

Emotional, social and spiritual support at the hospice

Following your referral, our Child and Family Support Team are here to provide specialist emotional, social and spiritual support in whatever way feels right to you.

  • Our counsellors and psychotherapist offer counselling and emotional support to children and young people, their siblings, and parents. Together, we’ll explore how best to support your family; it may be in individual one to one sessions, therapeutic group sessions or in other ways. We can also liaise with schools and other community groups to offer advice and support for children and young people.
  • Whether you’re religious or not, we also have a chaplain who can support your emotional and spiritual wellbeing – helping you explore your feelings, spiritual concerns, or any big questions you might be wrestling with.
  • Our social workers can provide practical and emotional support, tailored to the needs of you and your family. This can range from supporting with specific issues like education, housing and carer concerns, to helping coordinate aspects of care and support, supporting transition to other services or simply providing a listening ear.

However you chose to use our services, we aim to be inclusive and offer various ways to access our support, including telephone, video link and face to face meetings.

We can also offer specific support such as language interpreters and work with you to resolve any other barriers to accessing our service.

Smiling teenage boy satin a wheelchair in the gardens.

Moving on from Chestnut Tree House


When a child in our care gets older it’s sometimes better for them to be cared for by other types of services geared towards adults.

We’ll be here to support you emotionally and practically. Your key worker can come with you to see alternative respite homes, and is available to help point you in the right direction if you have any questions. 

We welcome feedback, positive or negative, about our services.

You can use this form to tell us about our services, stay at the House, a Community visit, an activity or any of our therapy services. All feedback is really appreciated and will help us improve what we offer you. Please only use this form if you are a current or previous user of our services.

Fill in the online form

Read our Blog

What to expect when you visit

We've put together a list of things we think you'll need to know, advice and information for anyone who's visiting a children's hospice for the first time.

What to expect when visiting a children’s hospice