The aim of the Family Support Service is to welcome families to the hospital, provide information on the facilities available and to cater for the particular needs of parents. Speak to staff on the ward if you wish to contact someone from Family Support.

Hospital Chaplains provide spiritual care to children and their families. Spiritual care is completely person-centered and makes no assumptions about personal beliefs or lifestyle. The Spiritual Care Service is open to everyone, to people of all faiths and to those who have no religious beliefs.

Hospital Chaplains can help you:

• plan and conduct non-religious ceremonies such as naming ceremonies
• provide the rituals and sacraments such as Baptism/Christening and Holy Communion when requested
• if you would like the leader of your own faith community to visit you in hospital the chaplain can contact them on your behalf
• if you or your child would like to see or talk to a Chaplain, please ask a member of staff to contact a Chaplain for you on 0131 536 0144
• The Sanctuary provided by the Sick Kids Friends Foundation is a room where you can go for peace and stillness, prayer and meditation. It is always open and can be found in the Family Centre near main reception

Every year, around £1.4 million is raised through all sorts of events,
sponsorship, legacies, corporate donations and gifts from parents and
friends of children at the hospital who recognise the importance of the
work of the charity.

In the hospital we provide:

• extra comforts for children
• extra facilities for children and families
• extra state of the art medical equipment
• The Drop In Centre
• The Hospital Shop
• parents' Accommodation

If you could spare a few hours to help in the shop or Drop In Centre, or would like to hear of the fundraising activities, please phone the Friends Foundation on 0131 668 4949, or visit www.sickkidsdropin.org

The Sick Kids Friends Foundation Drop-in Centre is located at 21 Millerfield Place, Edinburgh EH9 1LW. It provides support for children and young people with longterm conditions and their families in a welcoming and homely facility. Visitors can access information, advice and emotional support from both the centre staff and the SNIP team. Complementary therapies from qualified therapists and a range of other activities are also available.

• Volunteers at the centre occupy the children with a variety of games,arts and crafts while the parents have a cup of tea and chat with staff or other parents
• Computers are available and have supervised internet access to hundreds of sites relevant to children's health
• Children are welcome every day and there are special evening sessions for young people at least once a week. Patients should either be accompanied by their parents/carers or escorted to the centre by one of our volunteers

Ask staff on the ward to contact the centre on your behalf to book therapy sessions or check on activities by calling 0131 668 4949. It's the place to chill out, relax and recharge the batteries!

Kindred (formerly SNIP (the Special Needs Information Point)) www.kindred-scotland.org is a parent-led voluntary organisation based at the back of the main hospital at 14 Rillbank Terrace, Edinburgh.

It provides information, advice, emotional support and advocacy to families of children with additional support needs. This means anything that causes a child to need extra care, such as epilepsy, migraine, asthma, cerebral palsy, etc. There might not even be a diagnosis of your child's condition, but there may still be services available to help.

How Kindred helps:

• Kindred Information and Advocacy Workers can give you information about benefits, support groups and services you may need once your child returns home
• provide emotional support and they will be happy to talk to you and offer help, or a listening ear
• sometimes it may be helpful to have a Kindred worker talk on your behalf to the professionals involved. This is called advocacy. They can also help you to prepare for meetings and feel more confident to express your own views
• you can ask hospital staff to contact Kindred for a worker to visit you in the hospital
• if you are at home, you can contact them on their helpline 0131 536 0583

Through play and entertainment both on the wards and on air, Radio Lollipop is an important part of hospital life for many children during their stay in hospital. Children link into the radio station for games, activities, music and fun.
Phone 0131 668 3097, fax 0131 536 0775 or email edinburgh@radiolollipop.org