Enterprising students support St Helena’s Compassionate Communities project

St Helena Hospice has joined forces with University of Essex students to identify new ways to improve access to end-of-life care for marginalised and vulnerable communities.

The link-up emerged from the University’s annual iTeams programme, hosted by the University’s Essex Startups, which gets student teams from across different subject areas to work with local businesses and organisations on real-world challenges, with the support of expert mentors.

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The partnership was so successful the students will be continuing to work with St Helena through the summer on initiatives which promote the concept of ‘Compassionate Communities’ – groups and networks which support each other, especially when experiencing serious or life limiting illness, ageing, caregiving, grief or loss.

"Fantastic initiative"

Greg Cooper, St Helena Head of Community Asset Development and Partnerships, said “iTeams is a fantastic initiative for students and businesses alike. For me, it provided access to a wealth of new ideas and offered invaluable insights to cultural approaches to end-of-life care.

“The ambition and enthusiasm demonstrated by the teams was the catalyst to pursue an ongoing relationship with the students, allowing them to work directly with us to finesse their ideas and see them delivered in real-time.”

As part of iTeams, St Helena Hospice presented two student teams with the challenge of suggesting ways to improve access to compassionate end-of-life care for marginalised and vulnerable communities across Colchester to reduce the pressure on clinical services.

Over eight weeks, the students participated in a combination of workshops, self-directed research, teamwork, and regular mentoring meetings to produce a comprehensive report presented at the final pitching event in front of the organisations involved in the programme, an expert panel, and fellow iTeams participants.

Following the final presentation, both teams, along with mentor Paul Walter, were invited by St Helena to deliver their reports to a wider team of hospice executives. The aim was to explore how the students’ suggestions could be implemented to achieve both short-term and long-term impact, to fulfil the objectives of the Compassionate Communities Project.

The two teams have now merged to form a ten-strong team. A WhatsApp group has been set up for the hospice staff, team members, and their mentor, to co-ordinate meetings, contribute to discussions, and track the progress of project delivery.

"It was a privilege"

BSc Psychology student Jack Leing said: “iTeams got me thinking seriously about how to create compelling pitch decks, who you choose to surround yourself with, and the importance of each team member’s role.

“Presenting to the hospice executives was nerve-wracking, but it was also a privilege. Sharing something we had worked so hard on, and knowing it might come to life, was a powerful moment.”

"Incredibly rewarding"

For BSc Political Science student Chatchasa Puttarak, working with St Helena introduced her to hospice care provision in the UK and the reasons many people require the support they offer. “As an exchange student from Thailand, the concept of an end-of-life care plan was new to me. The more I understood about the importance of hospice care, the more passionate I became about the project.

“It was incredibly rewarding to have the opportunity to connect with local schools, community organisations, and faith centres to gain an understanding of different needs within cultural groups and to open up the conversation around such a sensitive, but necessary, subject area.”

iTeams offers many of the students their first opportunity to put theory learnt in the classroom into practice. The students are put into groups with individuals from varying subject areas and levels of study, as well as exposure to work experience. The teams participate in business skills workshops to prepare them to undertake each stage of the process, but it is down to them to determine specific roles, priorities, and deadlines to ensure they meet the criteria of the challenge.

"Gave me a new perspective"

Francesco Di Cesare, BSc Economics and Finance said “iTeams introduced me to a variety of tools and frameworks that I didn't even know existed. These were incredibly useful in breaking down and understanding business problems and gave me a new perspective on how to approach real-world challenges.

“Working in a team composed of people from different cultural and academic backgrounds made communication a tough at times, but I truly appreciated the real-world impact the project aimed to have. The blend of emotional and economic engagement, along with the complexity of the challenge, made the overall experience more dynamic and really motivated us to succeed.”

"Enriching experience"

Kondwani Ngulube, MSc Artificial Intelligence, added “This process gave us the freedom to be creative and think deeper. Not knowing one another at the outset pushed all of us to seek out complementary skills and identify where we could each add value.

“Our mentor instilled in us the importance of fully understanding the client and the problem, and that taking the time to evaluate your ideas as you go to enables you to pinpoint the best solutions. It continues to be an enriching experience of self-discovery, which I hadn’t envisaged.”

Meetings between the team and the hospice have been arranged to start over the summer, at the end of the exam period. The team’s initial focus is going to be the recruitment and training of volunteers to enable increased end-of-life care support to be delivered across Colchester.

Compassionate Communities is a nationwide movement to encourage people to work together to support each other. Colchester was awarded Compassionate City status by Compassionate Communities UK in the summer of 2024, in recognition of the city's compassionate culture and strength of partnership.