Across the Northern Trust area, there are four different bereavement support groups that provide caring support and guidance to families who have been bereaved by suicide.
Each support group takes place from 7pm – 9pm on the following dates:
Ballymena
Galgorm Community Centre, 3 Raphael Way, Galgorm Parks, Ballymena BT42 1GQ
Monday 2nd September 2024
Monday 7th October 2024
Monday 4th November 2024
Monday 6th January 2025
Monday 3rd February 2025
Monday 3rd March 2025
Monday 7th April 2025
Monday 12th May 2025
Monday 2nd June 2025
Cookstown
Gortalowry House, 94 Church Street, Cookstown BT80 8HX
Wednesday 4th September 2024
Wednesday 2nd October 2024
Wednesday 6th November 2024
Wednesday 8th January 2025
Wednesday 5th February 2025
Wednesday 5th March 2025
Wednesday 2nd April 2025
Wednesday 7th May 2025
Wednesday 4th June 2025
Coleraine
Windhall Community Centre, 605 Tullens Park, Coleraine BT52 2JE
Tuesday 17th September 2024
Tuesday 22nd October 2024
Tuesday 19th November 2024
Tuesday 21st January 2025
Tuesday 18th February 2025
Tuesday 25th March 2025
Tuesday 29th April 2025
Tuesday 20th May 2025
Tuesday 17th June 2025
Carrickfergus
The Marina, Marina Buildings, 3 Quayside, Carrickfergus BT38 8BJ
Thursday 26th September 2024
Thursday 24th October 2024
Thursday 28th November 2024
Thursday 30th January 2025
Thursday 27th February 2025
Thursday 27th March 2025
Thursday 24th April 2025
Thursday 29th May 2025
Thursday 26th June 2025
For more information and resources are available on the Bereaved by Suicide service page.
Could you make a difference as a bereavement comfort call volunteer?
The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is now looking for empathic individuals with good listening skills to join the dedicated team behind this new and innovative service.
Volunteers will make timely calls to the next of kin of those who die in hospital.
During a comfort call, you will offer condolences, a listening ear and signposting, particularly to those who are not aware of support available or those who require additional support.
Explaining more, Volunteering Programme Delivery Manager Louise Harper said: “The complex circumstances associated with dying, death and bereavement has led to an increased demand for bereavement support.
“We recognised this within the Trust, and established the bereavement comfort call service to provide this much-needed emotional and practical support when a loved one passes away.
“This is a very rewarding role, and we hope that people will come forward to help ensure we can continue to offer these calls which we know can make a huge difference to people at what can be a very difficult time.”
There are many benefits to becoming a comfort call volunteer, including:
giving time to others
great satisfaction from helping others, creating positive feelings and a sense of reward
helping you connect with other people and build a sense of belonging
meeting new people and trying something new
accessing online training and developing your skills
obtaining insight into caring roles
Essential criteria: Access to a laptop or PC and mobile phone along with confidence when using IT.
Did you know our school nursing teams play an important role in promoting farm safety?
During #FarmSafetyWeek we want to recognise the work they do to keep children and young people safe.
This year they have delivered safety awareness sessions to over 3000 pupils in 18 rural primary schools.
We work in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland to promote child safety on farms and we’re an affiliate member of the regional Farm Safety Partnership.
This checklist for parents can help to make farms as safe as possible for children:
• Have a safe and secure play area
• Prevent children from playing in or around farmyards and livestock
• Make sure vehicles have good all-round visibility
• Prevent children aged under 13 from riding on tractors and farm machinery
• Restrict quad use and provide suitable safety equipment
• Secure all heavy wheels, gates, heavy equipment and stacked materials
• Ensure your slurry lagoon is securely fenced to prevent children from gaining access and make sure tank covers are always in place
• Keep children well away when mixing slurry
• Keep track of where family members are playing or working and when they are expected back
• Make sure everyone washes their hands before eating and drinking
• Keep chemicals locked in a secure store when not in use
• Make sure that guards are in place to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery
• Make sure all family members know what to do in an emergency
• Prepare a list of emergency contact telephone numbers
We are delighted to offer an exciting and rewarding opportunity to work as an integral member of the Community Children’s Nursing Team as a Senior Nursing Assistant (Band 3).
In this role you will undertake a range of duties which will contribute to thesupport and care of children with complex physical health care needs and their families.
You will work across a variety of community settings, including the child’s home.
There will be opportunities for skills development and child specific training will be provided.
What do our Team North family have to say about our Community Nursing Team?
Tanya Gillan (pictured above) has worked as a Senior Nursing Assistant for the past year.
Reflecting on her role, she said: “I have gained so many new skills and I havebeen given so many opportunities working in the Community Children’s Nursing Team. I especially enjoy my role workingone to one with children in their own home and building a rapport with them and their families.”
One of our service users said: “The Senior Nursing Assistants who care for my son are the glue that keep my family together. We would be lost without the support they deliver with such compassion.”
Which of our localities have Senior Nursing Assistant vacancies right now?
We have vacancies now in the Antrim/East Antrim and Causeway areas.
This includes:
Antrim
Larne
Newtownabbey
Carrickfergus
Ballymoney
Coleraine
A waiting list will also be created for any similar posts that may become available Trustwide.
What staff benefits are available to our Senior Nursing Assistants?
Attractive salary: £21,730 – £23,177 per annum(pro rata for part time)
Generous holiday entitlement starting at 27 days per year plus 10 statutory/public holidays
Training and development opportunities
Travel mileage
Uniform provided
Flexible working opportunities
Health and wellbeing support
HSC pension scheme
Are you interested?
To find out more about this role please ring 028 944 24600 (Option 3).
Could you open your home to help other families in your local community?
Share the Care is an inspiring programme within the Northern Health and Social Care Trust which offers both permanent and short break placements for adults with a learning disability. The Trust is now seeking to expand its team of carers who have space within their family circle to support this hugely valuable service.
Explaining more, Adult Learning Disability Head of Service, Angela Reid, said: “We’ve been running Share the Care for over 20 years and in that time we have helped countless families and individuals.
“We are hugely grateful to all those who have supported it by providing a family-environment and home-from-home surroundings for our service users.
“The success of Share the Care is built on the generosity, compassion and kindness of our host families and if you want to be a part of this we would love to hear from you.
“We always have a greater number of people requiring placements than we can accommodate, so we’re appealing for more individuals and families to consider getting involved. If you could share your time and friendship with others, you will be making a huge difference to service users and their families.”
Patricia Quinn from Cushendall has been a Share the Care Carer for a number of years.
Get involved
Encouraging others to get involved, she said: “I would tell people who are thinking about doing it to jump in because you do get a lot out of it. You have that feeling that you are doing something to help other people. We enjoy the craic, we go for walks, we go for coffee, we paint nails, we do jigsaws, we do a variety of different things.
“I would describe Share the Care as a very good service for people who need that extra bit of help. For the people who are doing the service, and looking after the family member, it’s very well supported for them as well.”
Reflecting on her involvement, Kelly Campbell from Maghera, said: “I get a lot out of Share the Care, looking after Clare. We have a great bond together. We go out for walks, we go shopping, and I just feel as if I am doing something great for the community, taking the likes of Clare out for a wee break.”
Echoing these sentiments, Clare added: “I love coming on a short break to Kelly because it gets me out of the house and it gives me time to spend with her. I love us going shopping to Cookstown together, especially when I get a McDonalds.”
Experiences
Service user Mark Black from Ballymena says life would be boring without Share the Care: “We go out in the car, and we go to Templepatrick and round the garden centres, and sometimes we go shopping. We have great craic and I’m enjoying it. I like getting out on a Wednesday now because that shortens the week for me. If I hadn’t joined this it would have been boring.”
Ewelina Urbaniak- Brzuchalska from Coleraine has been providing short breaks through Share the Care for two years, after being introduced to the initiative by a colleague.
Speaking about her involvement, she said: “It is a joy for service users, it is a joy for families. We are giving them a break to enjoy going somewhere without that responsibility and we are enjoying it to.”
Impact
Eileen McLellan’s son Philip is a Share the Care service user from Coleraine. Explaining the difference the scheme has made to her and her family, she said: “Philip was always with us, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. When we were offered this it was such a lifeline. Phillip is treated as one of the family. At first we wondered how it was going to work out but it is really amazing, and my husband and I benefit very much from it.”
At this time, the Northern Trust is particularly looking for those who could become short break adult placement carers. This is a voluntary role but expenses are paid for time and travel.
Carers can help service users take part in an activity, go on a day out, or simply make them a part of your day-to-day routine, by taking them shopping, or spending time at home in the garden, watching a film, baking or cooking.
Alongside this, opportunities are also available for overnight short break providers. These can range from one night to several nights, with the service user staying in the carer’s home while Share the Care also extends to permanent adult placement carers, who provide longer-term care in their own home.
If you would like to find out more you can register your interest by ringing 028 7034 7871 between 9am – 2pm Monday – Friday or email ShareTheCare@northerntrust.hscni.net and a member of the team will come back to you.
Introducing solids can be a really exciting time for you and your baby, but with so much advice out there, it can be hard to know what is best.
To help you, the Public Health Dietitians Group are promoting Weaning Week which runs from May 13 – 19.
Throughout the week, they will be sharing trustworthy, up-to-date and practical advice, and providing weaning recipe books, top tips flyers, staff training and more.
If you are about to embark on your little one’s ‘foodie journey’ or want to know the best advice to give to those introducing solids, there are lots of resources to help.
Opportunities are available now to join the volunteer team at the Macmillan Information and Support Pod in Causeway Hospital.
Located in the main entrance area, this important resource is a partnership initiative between the Northern Health and Social Care Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support.
The pod offers a wide range of free guidance and confidential advice to people living with cancer, as well as their families, friends and carers within a friendly and welcoming environment. As an Information and Support Volunteer, you will ensure that anyone with questions about cancer, ranging from managing symptoms to advice around benefits and financial support, are able to easily access the information they require, and are signposted to other services as necessary.
Skills and abilities
If you are an open and compassionate person, with good listening skills and an ability to build a rapport with others, then please consider getting involved.
Volunteering can be a hugely rewarding experience, and in this role you will engage directly with people, and make a difference in their time of need. All volunteers receive full support, and you’ll be able to avail of training opportunities.
The next Medicine and Emergency Medicine (MEM) Service User Engagement Panel session will take place on Tuesday 4 June from 6pm – 7:30pm in Bretten Hall, Antrim Area Hospital.
It will cover the SAFER Patient Flow Bundle, which is a practical tool used by staff in MEM wards to try to minimise unnecessary delays for patients.
It is based on the ethos that a patient’s time is the most valuable currency in healthcare. It is focused on all staff working together to treat acute symptoms promptly, optimise patient experience and safety and enable patients to be discharged in a timely manner. Discharge planning should begin on admission and should involve the patient, their relatives and carers (as appropriate) and the whole multidisciplinary team, all working together to achieve a smooth and timely discharge.
To register your interest in joining the service user engagement panel or to confirm your attendance at the next panel session please email Catriona.Haughey@northerntrust.hscni.net
Background
We want to work with members of the public as part of our commitment to ongoing development and improvement.
Members of the MEM Service User Engagement Panel will meet on a quarterly basis to share their experiences and discuss improvement projects.
Feedback will be used to inform plans and decisions.
While the Division has engaged with service users on an ongoing basis around various topics it now wants to create a more formal structure for engagement.
The panel will include staff and service users and its overall aim is to ensure personal and public involvement on the development, design and improvement of Medicine and Emergency Medicine services within the Northern Trust
Different topics/projects will be discussed at each meeting.
These could include, but not limited to:
Phone First
Enhance Care Project (EPCO)
Discharges from Hospital
Rapid Access Pathways
Frailty Pathways
Programme of work
Service users and carers who get involved with this panel will:
Share experiences, knowledge, insight, and expertise.
Review and comment on papers, proposals, and plans.
Provide input into plans and decisions.
Bring issues and concerns from service users and carers to the group.
Represent and provide a service user and carer perspective.
Utilise the expertise, knowledge, and skills of service users and carers.
Inform, shape, and influence plans and decisions.
Support
Panel members will be provided with the following support to fulfil this role:
Introductory session to enable potential members to decide if this is an area they want to become involved in.
Meetings will be either in-person or online – whichever is more convenient to members.
Meeting dates will be agreed at least one calendar month in advance and agendas/papers will be sent to all panel members one week before the date of the meeting.
Reimbursement for out of pocket expenses which includes travel costs and the payment of replacement care.
Personal skills and abilities
The following are the skills, abilities, personal qualities and attributes which will be required from panel members:
Able to contribute to group discussions from either a Service User or a Carers’ perspective
Be a good communicator
Respect and recognise different viewpoints
Ability to commit their time to the panel which will involve
Pre-meeting reading
Attendance at quartetly meetings for one calendar year – each meeting will last approximately one hour and will be conducted either in-person at Antrim Area Hospital or online via Microsoft Teams
Could you spare some time to support people living with cancer?
The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is now seeking new volunteers to join its Macmillan Driving Team, with a specific focus on the Causeway Coast and Glens area including Coleraine, Ballymoney, Ballycastle, Castlerock, Portrush and Portstewart.
Explaining more about what’s involved, Macmillan Volunteer Coordinator, Nicola McAleese said: “As one of our drivers, you will take service users to and from their home or place of residence to Laurel House at Antrim Area Hospital where they will receive their chemotherapy treatment.
“Unfortunately not everyone is able to access reliable, safe or affordable transport so our volunteer drivers play an invaluable role by helping to get them to the hospital, and back home again, in a safe and timely way.
“Volunteers will use their own car, and the time commitment involved will vary depending on the individual service user.
“New volunteers will receive an induction, relevant training and ongoing support, and they can look forward to joining a very friendly team.”
Volunteering
This includes people like Elizabeth Gray and Eileen Black who have devoted over 25 years to volunteering between them.
Reflecting on her own experience, Elizabeth said: “It’s a hugely rewarding experience to know that you are helping to support people affected by cancer in your local community. I feel both honoured and privileged to be involved.”
Eileen added: “If you are helpful and caring, can offer companionship, and have an ability to make people feel at ease, then this volunteer role could be for you. Please consider if you could give any time and get in touch.”
Requirements
To be considered as a volunteer driver, applicants need to meet specific requirements:
Hold a full clean driving licence
Have valid car insurance and MOT
Must never have been disqualified from driving or had licence removed
Mileage expenses will be paid, and all volunteers will need to complete an AccessNI check.
