Inter faith week runs from 12th – 19th November and works at strengthening relations between members of different faiths, whilst celebrating their contribution to the community. We felt this was a great opportunity to highlight some of the work our spirituality team does here at Lindsey Lodge. We sat down with spiritual care lead Rev. Paul Braisdell who discussed with us the importance of working with colleagues within different faiths and how he and his team help provide support and comfort for anyone, no matter their faith. Rev. Paul Braisdell has been coming to Lindsey Lodge for almost two years to talk to patients within our Inpatients Unit and Wellbeing Centre. This is done alongside his hard work as reverend for the Epworth, Gainsborough and Scunthorpe circuit. At Lindsey Lodge he is on a rota with five other chaplains who visit once per week, all of whom volunteer their time to help our patients. Paul and his team visit patients and families to look after their spiritual needs. Whether that need be companionship to talk about the world around them, or offering prayers to bring comfort in what may be challenging times. Our spiritual team pride themselves on a patient led approach, which in it’s very essence, simply means being there for a patient in whatever way they need. Faith is not a barrier to spiritual support at Lindsey Lodge. Patients with no faith or a different faith can still receive spiritual support from our team. At Lindsey Lodge we have a reflection room which is adapted to suit the needs of anyone who needs it. Furnished with items from multiple faiths, it can be used as a prayer room, for meditation or simply for reflection. Sometimes, what is important to a patient is to speak to a faith leader known to them, or from their own religion. So our team have a large contact base of different multi-faith leaders enabling them to bring in the right person for the patient if required. This can even be the case with people of Christian faith due to multiple disciplines within Christianity. Paul is passionate about breaking down barriers to engage in conversations on every level. He said, “I don’t want people to think I am here to read them the bible or steer a conversation to religion. At the end of the day I am just a person who happens to be a Methodist, and I am here to help a patient with whatever they need. I enjoy engaging with people about any topic.” “Our role is to be there, to listen compassionately and provide person-centred, spiritual, religious, cultural and emotional support to all patients, families, staff and volunteers, by helping them to express and explore their thoughts and feelings about the past, present and future as they arise, in order to make sense of things.” Our spirituality team are just one example of how we at the hospice ensure we cater for people from all religions. Our inpatient unit team understand the importance of faith and rituals, particularly during end of life care and will adapt the service to ensure all needs are met. To find out more about our service visit https://www.lindseylodgehospice.org.uk/patients-families/inpatient-unit/