Remember with Patches – Pre-bereavement service for children

Hi, I’m Patches the fish. Thank you for visiting my website. People said a fish couldn’t make a website, but clearly this proves otherwise! I live underwater in a big pond. Let’s be friends! I’ve always wanted to meet a human, afterall!

Because I’m a fish, people say I have have a short memory. I want to learn more about memories so I can understand what they mean to us.

On this website you can learn more about memories with me. It’s full of fun activities, quizes and even a downloadable story book adventure that you can print at home. And I will always be here to lending a helping fin!

If you’re an adult, scroll down to the bottom for a video about this service.

Read the story of Patches and friends, as they learn about the importance and power of memories. With this downloadable and printable storybook, you’ll get to know all about Patches, our friendly, funny, forgetful koi fish. The downloadable book is full of activities – you’ll write a song for a frog, paint a picture for a butterfly and have a lot of colouring in to do.

And at the end of the story, you’ll learn a little bit about how the friends and family we love are always there for us, in our memories.

Click here to download your free Patches storybook

Memories can be brought back by so many things – a name, a photo, even a funny smell. Gather up lots of bits and pieces that remind you of your loved ones, and make your own box of memories to keep forever!

You can use any kind of box to make your Memory Box. It could be a shoe box, a package from the post, or even made of wood! If you have trouble finding a shoe box, ask your family to send in a request to St Luke’s and our Patches Family and Children’s Support Worker will send you one.

Why not visit us in virtual reality on our virtual tour? Sometimes it can be a bit scary visiting new places, so our virtual tour is a great way to check out our specialist unit ahead of your first visit. We’re sure you’ll find lots of fun secrets, and see that it’s quite a friendly looking place!

Go ahead, take a look at the inside of St Luke’s, and see if you can find our fish pond! And if you have one of those fancy headsets, you can even visit us in full 360 vision, just plug in and go. Click here to get started.

Patches is a koi fish. Koi fish come from China. There are over 50 types of koi fish! Koi fish are one of the strongest fish in the world, and can even swim up waterfalls!

Koi fish can get very large, up to a whopping three feet! How big a koi fish grows depends on the amount of food, oxygen and space they have in their pond.

Koi fish can live for more than 100 years! That’s very old for a fish, so they must have a lot of memories!

Koi fish have a very varied diet, and will eat a lot if given the chance – including lettuce, peas and even watermelon!

St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth are a charity that supports people who need special help from our nurses. The St Luke’s nurses will wear purple uniforms when they visit your family at home, and they helped Patches make this webpage for you. They are super duper friendly, and hope you enjoy learning about memories with Patches.

When someone can’t be cared for at home, they may come to St Luke’s at Turnchapel. This is where Patches lives, and where they will receive special care every day. If you visit Turnchapel, make sure to visit Patches in our pond!

Our dedicated Patches Family and Children’s Support Worker is available to come alongside your family, spending time getting to know you to understand your particular circumstances. Taking this time means that together you can develop tailored support to help your children understand what is happening in a way that is most appropriate for them.

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