Really Big Pants Theatre

Talking openly and honestly with children about death is never easy, but it’s so important 💙

We were really pleased to welcome Joe and Willow from Really Big Pants Theatre Company to St Michael’s Hospice for a truly special performance.

Their beautiful two-person show, Comfort, gently explores how we can support children through conversations about death and loss in a caring and honest way.

The performance was shared with young people supported by Hope at St Michael’s, in partnership with Hope Support Services, which offers tailored support for children and young people aged 5–25 when someone they love is seriously ill or has died.

It was described as thought-provoking and lovely, and afterwards everyone took part in a joyful craft activity making pom-poms to take home 🎨✨

Joe also shared how meaningful it was to visit St Michael’s, especially with family connections to Herefordshire, and she was taken by the “breathtaking view from the terrace”.

💬 These conversations can be some of the hardest we ever have as parents, grandparents, and carers, but they’re also some of the most important.

If you feel comfortable sharing, we’d love to know—what has helped you talk to children about grief or loss? Your experiences might really help someone else in our community who’s going through something similar 💙

Hope everyone is keeping cool, preferably somewhere leafy and shady…!

Here‘s Grandma from our storytelling show SUDDENLY…! pointing out it‘s Father’s Day to Mr Wolfe! He’s not the greatest dad to his son Edwin in our show but he learns the importance of simply spending time with him.

We know today can be difficult, but sending love to everyone and thinking of Willow’s beloved and much-missed dad who died two years ago, and Joe’s glorious oldie who was out checking on his wonky carrots this morning and is now relaxing in the shade with a cup of tea and a treat # # # # #

We love a good view! And don’t worry - Willow is our Health & Safety Officer and very good at keeping her eyes on the road… we were stationary on Battersea Bridge at the time!

We had a bear-illiant time performing our show CLARE & CORY SHARE A (GLORIOUS) STORY at the Katherine Low Settlement picnic today to celebrate Refugee Week, and then admiring all this fab artwork on our activity sheets afterwards! So much going on and lots of lovely families getting involved. A really big thank you for having us!

Join us in wishing our fabulous friend Rosie Alabaster a very happy birthday! Rosie illustrated two of our books, and here's an image from SUDDENLY...! AND OTHER STORIES. Here's to friendship, art... and birthday cake! # # # # #

We‘re still thinking about this incredible view from the terrace of St Michael's Hospice - Hereford where we had the honour of performing our show COMFORT last week to bereaved families supported by Hope Support Services.

Our under 11s bereavement group had a special treat at this month's session - a visit from Joe and Willow at Really Big Pants Theatre who put on a performance of their 'Comfort' show!

The show aims to highlight the importance of talking openly and honestly with children about death, and afterwards they even led a pom-pom based craft session which linked to the performance.

Pom power! Behold these wonderful creations, made by families after watching our show COMFORT at St Michael's Hospice - Hereford with Hope Support Services. Two characters start to make one during the show, and we then invite children to make pom-poms either to take home or add to our travelling display. We love getting crafty, and it’s a really nice way to spend time chatting with them too. What do you think of their fabulous handiwork?

We wanted to say a really big thank you to Hope Support Services and the beautiful families we performed our show COMFORT to in the peaceful setting of St Michael's Hospice - Hereford today. It was such an honour to share Beanie’s story with you all, and what a joy to make fabulous pom-poms afterwards! We also had the chance to take a walk in the glorious garden at the hospice.

COMFORT was created to help support sensitive grief education and to highlight the need to talk openly and honestly with children about death. We are so grateful for the thoughtful and positive feedback we received from the support team and the families.

“Lovely performance. Thought-provoking and will hopefully open up conversations about loss.”

“Both adult and child (age 10) really enjoyed the show. It was/did make us feel sad but it was a sad subject that highlighted how the bereaved child feels. Thank you very much.”

“It really covers how a young person can be bullied or treated at a bereavement. Also how talking to children with the proper phrases is important. Thank you again.”

Love Joe and Willow xx