THIS week, St Helena Hospice has been on a mission to get people talking about dying.

The charity has hosted a number of events, including cake sales and afternoon teas, to mark St Helena Hospice Week. The theme has been It’s Time we Talked.

This week, reporter Zoe Forsey met some of the staff and families who have been supported by the hospice in their darkest hour.

THE hospice bereavement service is not just for families of people cared for by the charity.

PCSO Jake Geere died suddenly of a cardiac arrest in Colchester High Street, in March 2012, aged 33.

He left behind daughter Ellie, six.

Ellie and her mum Emma Chaplin were given support by the hospice, and went to art therapy classes.

Last year they were offered a grief support programme, Stars, and went on a long weekend to Mersea Island with other families who had suffered a similar loss.

They are given the opportunity to remember loved ones through a range of creative and expressive activities, including crafts.

Read the full story in today's Gazette.