Held in our Hearts is a small but mighty and growing Scottish charity providing baby loss counselling and peer support to families. We have over 40 years’ experience of offering compassionate bereavement care to individuals and families and working closely with a range of partners including the NHS, Scottish Government and the third sector.

Our values of empathy, connection and love underpin all that we do and guide us as we continue to grow and expand our services and reach. Our support services include counselling, one to one peer support, our innovative early intervention Hospital to Home service, group support, and events.

In recent years, we have expanded our team and extended our geographical reach to bereaved families from Edinburgh and the Lothians to Fife, Forth Valley and the Highlands.

Role background:

Hospital to Home is an opt out service which supports families to transition from the hospital setting to being back in the community. 6-8 sessions are offered, to support and guide families in the very early days of their loss, enhancing existing community services to provide long term peer bereavement support.

We will work alongside NHS colleagues to provide a more comprehensive and cohesive transition from the hospital to home setting. Early intervention, through Hospital to Home, will highlight and identify emerging issues associated with complicated grief and trauma, and families can be offered long term support through peer support or counselling. This early support will reduce the isolation and loneliness that bereaved parents feel, improving family’s long term mental and physical wellbeing and their ability to grieve with empathic support in place in the community.