Community Partners and Butterfly Companions
At South Bucks Hospice we recognise that social isolation is one of the most significant factors in decreasing the state of anyone’s health, no matter what their age. With this in mind, along with many hospices in the UK today, we are launching two new projects which we hope will make all the difference to enhancing the lives of our patients and their families.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Our Community Partners scheme launched in March 2025 and continues to grow in steady momentum. Please ask any members of the clinical team for more details of community groups that could support you or your family or email: community@sbhospice.org.uk
What are Community Partners?
South Bucks Hospice takes an active role in the nationwide schemes currently taking place across the UK, to banish social isolation in those affected by cancer, and those who are bereaved, by linking with Community Partners. These are locally organised groups who will offer you specialised spaces for ongoing support and company.
Where are the groups located?
Our Community Partner groups are located across South Bucks and are growing in number all the time. Ask a member of our staff or contact our community email to find out more.
What could I gain from a group?
Meeting like-minded people who understand our experiences and struggles gives us a valuable sense of being heard and known and seen. This feeling of being ‘plugged in’ to activities going on in the community may not be an experience we can gain in quite the same way anywhere else. It can be positively enabling and life giving, to join in with others, being inspired by their thoughts, reflections and guidance.
Can I still be part of South Bucks Hospice?
When you have come to the end of using South Bucks Hospice clinical services, and you no longer have a clinical need that the Butterfly House team can help with, your ongoing support remains of paramount importance to the hospice team.
You will be invited to stay in touch with us via the ‘Forget Us Not’ Friday coffee mornings on the first Friday of the month in our Bistro but your regular access to groups run by the hospice will end which is why finding out as much as possible about groups run by our Community Partners will be so important for your ongoing wellbeing.
What are the range of groups available?
- The two types of group we can sign post you to are:
- Support for those affected by cancer which may be a friendship/ peer support group, art or other activity groups.
- Support for those who are bereaved, which may be a group to process the pain of the loss or a social group who meet to support each other, eat together or do social outings and activities together.
We are pleased to announce that Oasis, Flackwell Heath; Sharing Strength at the Dove Café, Holtspur; and Freedom to Grieve, various locations over Bucks, are all existing Community Partners.
We are looking all the time to expand our Community Partnerships. Full training and a monthly mentoring/support group are provided at the hospice for all those who might like to set up a new locally run group for those affected by cancer or those who are bereaved. Please email: community@sbhospice.org.uk to find out more.
BUTTERFLY COMPANIONS
Our Butterfly Companions service will launch in February 2026. This scheme has a vision to help all those at risk of social isolation who would benefit from one of our ‘buddy pair’ couples coming to visit once a week. Please read below to find out more. And do please email companions@sbhospice.org.uk if you would like to know more about how to access this service or to apply to be one of the companions of the visiting ‘buddy pairs’.
What are Butterfly Companions?
South Bucks Hospice takes an active role in the nationwide schemes currently taking place across the UK, to banish social isolation in those affected by cancer. Butterfly Companions are home visiting volunteer teams, working in pairs to keep you company at a time, arranged around you, to chat about anything you would like to or even just to watch a much loved television show in company or to play a favourite game.
How does the Butterfly Companions scheme work?
Our Butterfly Companions are allocated to our patients after a member of our team assesses your needs and allocates you your own Butterfly Companions who will carry out weekly or regular home visits to suit your daily routine. If you are already a patient you may approach one of our nurses to make a referral on your behalf.
Who are Butterfly Companions for?
Butterfly Companions are volunteer home visitors ideal for anyone with a prolonged, advanced life limiting illness, who finds it hard to mobilise and misses regular social interaction.
What can I expect?
A ‘Buddy Pair’ team will visit you, together, for an hour each week. These will be two people trained and DBS checked by South Bucks Hospice, who have a heart to support those in the community who believe they may benefit from regular home visits and the chance to chat in an unhurried, relaxed and familiar environment.
Butterfly Companions hour long visits will only cease when the volunteers and patient agree this should happen. This scheme may also work well in conjunction with services provided with other hospices, if appropriate, and with their consent.
What could I gain from having Butterfly Companions visit me?
Having Butterfly Companions visit regularly could:
- Help me have an uplifting focus to my week
- Help me express any thoughts, feelings or worries
- Give me joy in playing a game, sharing a favourite T.V. show or recounting stories and memories
- Help reduce my anxiety levels by distracting me from thinking too much, too long, on my own
- Bring new company not only to me but possibly any partner/ spouse living with me
- Give me (and my partner) empathy and compassion to feel more supported
N.B. Buddy Pairs will not do any tasks that require taking money, lifting, personal care or visits outside the home, due to risks associated with mobilising patients.
Buddy Pairs will only visit in pairs and if one of the pair is away or ill, they will either wait a week or two to return together, or they may be paired with another volunteer from the hospice. They will however, only ever visit in pairs for their own safety and the safety of our patients.
