Compassionate Hearts on the Bellarine is part of the Compassionate Community Movement. Compassionate Communities recognise the natural cycles of sickness and health, birth and death, love and loss, and believe in the importance of caring for one another in times of crisis and loss.

With this understanding, Compassionate Hearts on the Bellarine is working to become a “naturally occurring network of support” (Ref:Abel, Kellehear and Karapliagou.)

Utilising our trained volunteers, we can reach out to individuals and their families in all areas of the Bellarine Peninsula who are experiencing a life limiting illness, offering non-medical, ‘good neighbour’ support.

Traversing a life limiting illness and death is an individual, social, emotional and spiritual experience and our volunteers are respectful of each person’s life experience and beliefs.

Compassionate Communities are an international movement which recognises that care for one another at times of crisis and loss is not a task solely for health and social service professionals. Rather, it is everyone’s, or a community’s responsibility.

The Compassionate Communities approach aims to build capacity within individual communities to support people approaching the end of their lives. It encourages people to engage and become more informed about death, dying, grief and caring.