Hope in the Forest of Dean
Hope supports children and young people aged 5-25 when a loved one has been diagnosed with a serious or life-threatening illness.
One-to-one support is available across the UK via Hope Online, and in the Forest of Dean we also offer youth sessions at Great Oaks Hospice.
If you’re a parent or professional looking to refer a young person for our support, head to our referral form.
YOUTH SESSIONS
Meet others going through the same thing at our monthly youth sessions
ONE-TO-ONES
Young people aged 5-25 can access one-to-one support via Hope Online
ACTIVITIES
Get involved in activity days and projects in the school holidays
Hope in The Forest of Dean Support FAQs
Where are the youth sessions?
From September 2026, we will be running a monthly youth session at Great Oaks Hospice for 5-11 year olds.
We are also looking at setting up a group for 11-17 year olds in the future – please do fill in our referral form if you’re interested in these, and we’ll let you know if/when they’re up and running!
Is one-to-one support available?
Absolutely! Young people aged 5-25 can access support from Hope Online via Microsoft Teams, email or Facebook (13+). Sessions are available from the point of a loved one’s diagnosis and can continue for however long we’re needed, whatever the outcome for the patient.
There’s no minimum or maximum number of sessions a young person needs to have – we recommend young people book no more than one session every two weeks. Some children access every fortnight and others book an ad-hoc session every so often if they’re having a particularly tough time.
We don’t provide counselling or therapy, but a listening ear to help young people talk about their worries or struggles.
Can you support a young person who has a loved one experiencing a mental health issue, or physical health condition?
Our support is available to young people who have a loved one with a serious illness such as cancer, MND, organ failure, heart condition, or dementia. Unfortunately, we cannot provide support when a loved one has a mental health condition, addiction, or physical disability that is unrelated to a serious illness.
If you are unsure as to whether a condition would fit our remit, please get in touch.
Can you help neurodivergent children, or those with disabilities?
We have supported many children who are neurodivergent, as well as those with disabilities or learning difficulties.
Whilst we acknowledge that not every activity will suit everyone, we will always try and do what we can to support a young person who needs us and ensure our service is as inclusive as possible.
For our online one-to-ones, a young person would need to be verbal to access our video/audio calls but we do have a messaging service through Facebook, Microsoft Teams or email for those who would prefer to type things out.
Please get in touch if you would like to chat about any adjustments that may be needed for a young person, or to see how we can help.
Can you support young people who have mental health conditions, or suicidal thoughts?
Hope is a low-level service, and our Wellbeing Advisors provide a listening ear and basic coping strategies. We recognise that having a loved one with a serious illness can lead to lots of emotions, and we can support young people experiencing things like stress, anger or confusion – as well as issues with friendships, school struggles and unhealthy coping mechanisms.
If any of these emotions are having a severe impact on a child’s day to day life, or they are experiencing separation anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders or OCD symptoms, we would instead recommend a GP appointment for a referral to a higher level support service such as counselling, therapy or CAMHS.
I’m unable to fill in the referral form – is this something you can help me with?
Of course! Just give us a ring on 01989 566317 during office hours and we can fill it out over the phone.
Hope at Great Oaks
Hope is working at Great Oaks Hospice, Gloucestershire to provide support to young family members of patients accessing any of the Hospice’s services.
At Great Oaks we offer youth sessions and activities where children and young people can chat to our professional team, and meet others going through a similar situation.
