Around 40% of families we help are in Surrey and the hospitals we work in partnership with are St. Peter’s Hospital, Royal Surrey County Hospital, East Surrey Hospital and Epsom Hospital. As well as this, our Family Support Workers offer practical and emotional support to families at home.

Emma Searle is the Family Support Manager at Momentum Children’s Charity. As part of her role, Emma supports families at St. Peter’s Hospital and The Royal Surrey County Hospital. Talking about the role of our Family Support Workers, Emma said:

“We help families find hope and strength by checking in with them regularly. The families might be going through a lot themselves and they might not reach out, but they have that reassurance that we will be in touch with them. We gain trust with families, and they know that they can lean on us and we will support them in whatever way they need – whether that is emotionally by organising some counselling or play therapy, or it could something as simple as arranging a respite break on our riverboat, or at one of our cabins.

Recently I have been in touch with a family whose child is about to complete cancer treatment after two years. I had a conversation with her about what happens with support, and I was able to reassure mum that we won’t be going anywhere and that we will continue to support the family, even after treatment. Mum felt very reassured and comforted by this, and her exact words were that we were like a ‘comfort blanket’. It is so lovely to hear families feel this way about our support.”

Many people think our Family Support Workers are volunteers, but they are not, and we rely on the generosity of Trusts, Foundations, individual donors and our corporate and community partners to be able to fund these roles.

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