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Spiritual Care & Chaplaincy


All definitions of hospice and palliative care talk of four key ingredients. St Richard’s offers high quality care in all four areas – physical, emotional, spiritual and social – with the Chaplaincy Team leading on the provision of Spiritual Care.

Revd David Knight is the only paid member of a team of fifteen which seeks to support patients, relatives, staff and volunteers by offering pastoral and spiritual care. The team – being multi denominational itself – readily supports people of all faiths and philosophies. Click here for Multi Faith Advice. Please Ask David a question and he will do his utmost to help.

The team is organised to allow full involvement in the Day Hospice and the In-patient Unit. In addition we offer a Sunday morning In-patient Unit chaplaincy, an on-call provision (24/7, 365 days a year) and a specialist ministers (multi-faith) directory. We also offer a funerals service for those with a connection to St Richard’s and no particular connection to a faith community.

With the opening of the Snowdrops Centre we have started to explore ways of allowing the community teams more easily to access spiritual care resources for use in the community. This is a natural development given the increasing number of community referrals already being received by the chaplaincy team. The team is also the main point of liaison between the hospice and the clergy and other faith leaders in the community.

The hospice is a regular placement used in the training of clergy by Queen’s College, Birmingham, Ripon College Oxford and the Diocese of Worcester. The chaplaincy is also increasingly busy assisting local churches in the training of their pastoral care teams.

Organised jointly with the Family Support Team, the Memorial Services, with around one hundred people coming on each occasion, are significant events in the life of the hospice.

Organised jointly with the Fundraising Team, our new Tree of Life services – individual memorial leaves can be hung in our newest garden – is meeting a very fast growing need. If you would like to explore the possibility of placing an engraved leaf in our garden in memory of someone you love, please contact the Fundraising Team on 01905 763963.

For more details of Remembering a loved one please click here

Finally, we look after the Sacred Space. Visitors can light a candle, add a prayer or a memory in the books provided, come to see our new Book of Remembrance, ask a chaplain to say a prayer or just take advantage of the peace and quiet. The Chaplaincy offers regular opportunities for prayer and meditation in the Space and keeps it well stocked with materials to aid private reflection.
Related Topics family support, bereavement
Categories Spiritual care

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