It is five years since readers of The Northern Echo helped build a children's hospice for the North-East. Katie Barlow meets one of the support counsellors.

EVERY time a child dies, Hazel Saunders goes home and lights a candle as an act of remembrance.

It is her own little ritual and the flame reminds her of the child, the parents and the rest of the family.

She has been the family support counsellor at the hospice for 15 months and had previously worked with terminally ill children, before taking the job.

However, she admits she is still not prepared for the death of a youngster and that is why she has her candle ritual.

Hazel said: "The day I don't feel something when one of the children dies is the day I will give up this job.

"I have a little saying on my office wall that goes "adding life to days when adding days to life is no longer possible", and that is what I hope we do.

"Every death is sad and although you think you are prepared for it, you're not."

The hospice has now started a coffee group where parents can get together and discuss their children.

Quite often parents have no one other than immediate family to turn to and the hospice has found once the funeral has taken place, many people feel guilty about mentioning the child's name for fear of causing upset.

Hazel said: "People who have attended the coffee group have really benefited from it as they find they are all in the same boat and just being able to share their feelings really helps.

"We often find the parents, or carers, are lost because they are so used to looking after someone 24 hours a day for seven days a week and there is a huge emptiness.

"They do not know what do to with themselves as they are so used to routines and a lot of them have real problems.

"At the group they can meet people in the same situation and discuss it."

The plan for the longer term is to set up a coffee group for the brothers and sisters of the children.

"We have to remember that these families have gone through something many people can only try and imagine.

"No matter how prepared they think they are, it is still a shock to them and that is why we need to be here to offer support and guidance. Without people donating generously to the hospice that is something we may not be able to do."