Share your Hospice Story

If you are a patient and have received care from Southern Area Hospice services, or if we have cared for someone close to you and you have a story about any of our services:

Inpatient unit based in Newry.
Bereavement support, bereavement drop-in sessions or walking groups.
Day Therapy Centre in Newry or Dungannon.
Out-patient Clinics (Dungannon, Craigavon, Newry)

We would love to hear from you. People who have shared their story often find it a positive experience and an opportunity to make a real difference for people and their families who are living with a terminal diagnosis.

Read other hospice stories here >>

Why should you share your experience?

We want to help as many people as possible and using personal stories for our campaigns helps us to do this in a number of ways…..

Your story will help raise awareness of what we do at Southern Area Hospice Services, why our services are so important and the difference we have been able to make.
We want to build a better understanding of the range of services that are available and who can access them.
Your story can provide comfort to those who may have received a palliative diagnosis and are considering hospice care or encourage someone with a palliative diagnosis to get in touch.
Your story will help dispel the myths about the hospice.
Your story may reassure those who have raised money for Southern Area Hospice Services and also inspire others to fundraise for us.

How will your story be used?

We use personal stories for campaigns throughout the year, on our website, in our newsletters and in other promotional material.

We may contact you to ask if you’d be happy to talk further about your experiences, or maybe take part in a video for our website or social media, or a newspaper interview or for a fundraising appeal. We will only ask you to do what you feel comfortable doing, we can even change names if required. We would never consider using any part of your story without asking you first.

How do you get involved?

It is easy! Once you have decided you would like to become involved you can get in touch and either send us an overview of your experience story and we can get back in touch with you or you can give a detailed account of your experience and send it to us. Do not worry about writing too much or too little - we can get in touch for more details if required. Please feel free to share some photos with your story.

Here is a short guide to help you get your story started.

Patient’s Name
Where are your family from?
Tell us about your loved one as a person?
When was your loved one here?
Can you give some background to their illness, what age they were, and how your loved one came to be in Hospice?
What do you remember about time spent in Hospice?
What Hospice Services did the family avail of…e.g. Inpatient Unit, Day Hospice, Bereavement Counselling, Community Liaison Nurse, Chaplaincy, Social Work, Hospital Specialist Palliative Care Team?
What would your message be to families who are thinking about using the Hospice but who are unsure or maybe have a fear of coming to Hospice?

How to get in touch.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to get in touch.

You can contact us via our social media platforms.

You can email communications at communications@southernareahospiceservices.org

Or if you prefer to put pen to paper you can post a letter to

Communications, Southern Area Hospice Services, Courtney Hill, Newry, Co. Down, BT34 2EB.

Phone Communications on 07484902065 / 07483363380 or main reception on 028 3026 7711.

The information you have given us will only be used to contact you about your story. We will not use your story or pass the details recorded or provided to us later, to any other organisation.