Our care
Caring for the child and the whole familyWe understand that having a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition can impact on everything you do. That’s why we have an holistic approach that is bespoke for every child and their family in order to provide the best possible care and support that they need.
As well as the clinical care, we open up opportunities for children and their siblings to experience fun, joy and adventures, and help families make precious memories for as long as they have.
Our services
Getting support from us doesn’t have to mean a child’s death is imminent as our end of life care and bereavement support is just a part of what we do.
Our service areas include:
Respite care
Specialist play
Symptom management
Family support
End of life care
Bereavement support
Alexander’s Care Team
Alexander’s Care Team is skilled in looking after children with complex healthcare needs.
Our team of dedicated professionals include qualified nurses, clinical nurse specialists, carers, play specialists, a music therapist, counsellors and doctors.
We work in close partnership with the NHS, local authorities and other professionals to ensure a joined-up approach and deliver care that is needed for each child and their family.
In the community
A significant amount of our hospice service is carried out in the community. This might be in the family home, in hospital or in schools. Wherever the child and family needs us.
For these families our visits provide much needed respite and we can bring support and services to their home.
We understand that good quality respite care is absolutely essential for the health and wellbeing of families caring for children with complex healthcare needs. Therefore we want to give families regular opportunities to take precious time for themselves and have the peace of mind that the clinical needs of their child are being met.
Our children’s hospice
Our purpose-built children’s hospice, located just off the M4 near Maidenhead, was opened in 2018.
It was designed to complement the existing community service with state-of-the-art-facilities for all the family to enjoy, including: a hydrotherapy pool, sensory room, music room, games room, outdoor playground and sensory garden, six children’s bedrooms, two self-contained family flats and a bereavement suite with its own garden.
Sensory room
A fully-equipped sensory room which is a wonderful safe space to engage children of all ages and abilities in stimulating play.
Creative learning zone
The messiest room in the house and where masterpieces are created that are completely priceless to families. It is also a place for children to maximise their learning capacity.
Music room
A dedicated room with an array of musical instruments for children to express themselves and stimulate their senses.
Hydrotherapy pool
A space for the children to splash around, relax and spend precious time together with their family. For a child confined to a wheelchair, the freedom of movement in water is a priceless gift.
Outdoor adventures at the hospice
Outside, our woodland-themed sensory garden offers an interactive and safe environment with wheelchair-friendly winding pathways, a mud kitchen, musical play pieces, scented plants and raised flower beds. Nestled amongst the plants and flowers are a host of LEGO models built by the talented team of LEGOLAND Model Makers.
In 2020, we also opened our exciting adventure playground that has been designed with special equipment to enable the children of all abilities we care for and their siblings to play together.
Take a look around
Who we support
We are here to help children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions from birth until they are 19 years old. We support families from all faiths, cultures and ethnic groups.
We cover the whole of Berkshire and many of the surrounding counties and our support is provided free of charge and available all year round.
Need our help?
The word hospice should not seem scary and getting support from us doesn’t have to mean a child’s death is imminent. Helping to enrich the lives of the children and their families is at the heart of our service, our end of life and bereavement support is just a part of what we do.
Our children’s hospice service covers the whole of Berkshire and into surrounding counties. Anyone can make a referral to Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service and if you think your child may be eligible for our services, please do get in touch.
Alexander Devine on Facebook
Shades on and chilling in our hydrotherapy pool - how super cool is Pippa?! 😎
Happy Friday everyone ☀️
#FridayFeeling #lifeatourhospice
Our gardening club volunteers took delivery of a very special gift this month - a fantastic John Deere sit on mower, which was very generously donated to us by Farol Ltd.
Matt Vellacott, Managing Director at Farol, told us "we are very pleased and proud to help such a worthy cause.”
The new mower was delivered by Farol Twyford's Manager, Barry Sharp. He kindly spent the morning with our volunteers giving them a tutorial on looking after it and showing them how to use it.
Children and families love using the outside space at our beautiful hospice and the new mower will make it so much easier to maintain our grounds for them to enjoy.
Thank you Matt, Barry and all at Farol for your wonderful and generous donation, it really will make a world of difference.
Well done to these Spartan heroes! 💪
We are so proud of the team from OpenText office in Reading who took on the mighty Spartan Obstacle Race in Henley earlier this month.
For those unfamiliar with Spartan races, they are obstacle courses that test speed, strength and endurance. The OpenText team had to conquer 20 off-road obstacles, including climbing walls, crawling under wire, traversing monkey bars, spear throws and of course lots of mud!
An amazing challenge and they managed to raise over £725! 👏
Copyright © 2019 Alexander Devine Children's Hospice Service. UK Registered Charity No. 1118947.