History and background

The Maypole Project was created in 2003, through a successful bid for Lottery Funding. Our unique psycho/social support service to children with chronic illnesses and their families has been developed from twenty years experience and expertise in working with children and families facing loss, feedback from our families, and research. Also from 1996 our team has supported a number of families with children with cancer through the Bromley Hospitals Trust Paediatrics team. The project also bases itself on the key points in the Every Child Matters agenda, the National Service Framework, and NICE guidelines.

The Lottery Funding allowed us to broaden our referral criteria to all children with life shortening and life threatening illnesses, and to increase our referral routes to hospital and community nursing settings in Lewisham and Bromley. We now also take referrals from Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark, and into Kent.

In a review of hospital paediatric cancer services The Maypole Project was described as:
“...a service that is offered which has been recommended as a model of care across London.”

A parent noted:
“The Maypole services are excellent. If everybody ran their services like them, we as families would be a lot happier!”