Family Rehabilitation Weekends 2024
Children’s Burns Trust have been providing family residential weekends since 2005, working in collaboration with the Firefighters Charity who enable us to use their fabulous rehabilitation centres.
Six families are invited to attend the weekend where the emphasis is on each family having the opportunity to spend time together, whilst also meeting other families who have been through a similar experience. The children (including siblings) and the parents are supported by burn care professionals from the burns service where they received care, which might include a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, nurse, play specialist or member of psychological therapies.
This year we have supported three family weekends including our first family weekend with the Midlands burn care services.
In April, five families from across the Northern Burn Care Services joined staff from Manchester, Sheffield, Alder Hey, Newcastle and Wakefield for the weekend, starting at Walby Farm near Carlisle. Visits from our usual favourites; Sunbeams music group, Taffy the storyteller and Zoobidoo animals were enjoyed by all and the swimming sessions were reported as a firm favourite. The parents attended a scar therapy session and a wellbeing session, giving them time to talk to the staff and share their own experiences with one another. One of the mums set up a What’s app group for the parents to keep in touch and in her feedback to the staff said:
It was a wonderful experience, the two (parent) classes and the different kinds of family time. We didn’t have to worry or think about mealtimes and I felt so chilled out for those 3 days, more than I’ve done for a very, very long time.
London & South East England Burn Network family weekend – Littlehampton
In September we celebrated 10 years of family weekends with the London and South East Burn Services. Six families attended the weekend and enjoyed a programme of support that included a trip to the fire station for the children, and a visit to Fishers Farm Park and the beach for the families. The swimming sessions were popular and a dash to the local shops was made to buy swimming shorts for some of the children who had previously never been swimming. It was so rewarding to see their enjoyment of the swimming sessions.
We were joined by staff and families who had attended previous family weekends to celebrate the 10ال year anniversary on the Saturday afternoon and wish to acknowledge the wonderful staff at Marine Court who pulled out all the stops to provide a celebration buffet that was enjoyed by all. Entertainer Jonathon Cann, who has attended all family weekends in Littlehampton once again entertained a larger than usual group of children with his Punch and Judy show, magic and balloon modelling.
Midlands family weekend – Penrith
In November we ran the first family weekend for the Midlands burn care services at Jubilee House in Penrith. This would not have been possible without the wonderful support from the senior nurses at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Nottingham Children’s Burns Service who joined many calls to understand the requirements for the weekend and released staff to come along to this first weekend. We had six parents and seven children join us for the weekend, and the feedback from the parents, children, siblings and staff that attended gave resounding confirmation of the benefits and enjoyment of the weekend.
They have realised they are not the only one to have a burn, made new friends and their sibling has been able to join in and chat with everyone. (parent)
The family weekend helped me to talk to other children and the staff members and made me feel better about my burn. (child)
I gained a sense of fulfilment; a sense of greater connection with the wider network staff and service users. (staff member)
Weekend in planning
Plans for a family weekend with the South West Burn Services have progressed in 2024 and we are aiming to run a family weekend at the Firefighters rehabilitation centre in Exeter in the late spring of 2025.
We would like to thank the following organisations for supporting the family weekends in 2024.
- The Firefighters charity – for use of their rehabilitation centres.
- The VTCT Foundation – for their grant to support the family weekends in 2024.
- Horwich, Cohen Coghlan solicitors – for providing a grant to support the cost of the 10 year celebrations in Littlehampton, including ice creams on the beach for all.
For more information about the family weekends please visit our family weekends page or contact info@cbtrust.org.uk
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