Hospice Isle of Man is re-launching the ’Your Hospice Your Way’ service on September 22.

The service is an independence and wellbeing programme which delivers Hospice-influenced care in a community setting.

Each two and a half hour session will cover a range of subjects, including how to stay active, mental and emotional wellbeing, advice on benefits, digital up-skilling, and physical health.

Anyone with a life-limiting illness or condition, together with their families and carers, can attend the sessions.

It originally launched in June but was shut down because of the pandemic.

Residents are encouraged to attend any of the programme stages if they benefit from the service. No referral is needed.

A Hospice spokesperson said: ’One of the main benefits of the programme is that no referral is necessary to attend, which means that the community can get the experience of the expert professionals at Hospice without being at Hospice themselves.’

There will be two sessions per week, taking place every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon from 1.30pm to 4pm.

The first week’s sessions will be held at Hospice Isle of Man on September 22 and Thie Roisen, Castletown Road in Port Erin on September 23.

A location for each subsequent session can be found on the Hospice Isle of Man website.

advocates

There will also be advocates in attendance providing advice and information as well as professionals in other fields.

For example, for the keeping active programme a physiotherapist from Hospice will join the group to take the session.

Also, Faith Berry, the creative arts coordinator at Hospice, will host the creative wellbeing sessions.

The aim is for it to be a flexible service that is tailored to suit the needs of those who need support.

It will be led and delivered by a team of professionals and is continually reviewed, evaluated and improved.

The programme is rolling, so after the first nine weeks, it will begin again for a new cohort.

Jude Bradford explained that the sessions would be informative but the other purpose for hosting them was for socialisation.

She said: ’I think a lot of people need a bit of socialisation because they can find themselves isolated so this will be a good opportunity for them.’