Facilities at The Ark
Our award-winning hospice building, The Ark, has a wide range of facilities.
We offer both day visits and overnight stays.
At The Ark we provide expert clinical care and organise fun and stimulating activities for the entire family. All our facilities are fully accessible, and our rooms have hoist equipment. Open since 2019, The Ark is a home-away-from-home for those we support.
Staying With Us
Children's Bedrooms
The Ark’s Woodland Wing has six fully equipped children’s bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms, including sensory baths with lights, sounds and bubbles. We adapt the bedroom to your child’s needs and interests.
Children come to Woodlands for respite short breaks, step-down-care (when children are well enough to leave hospital but not yet well enough to go home), urgent care and end-of-life care.
Family Accommodation
The Ark’s Meadows Wing has three comfortable family suites, if you choose to stay with us whilst your child is being cared for. Each suite has a double en-suite room, with an adjacent twin room to enable the whole family to stay whilst their child is being cared for in Woodlands. There is also a well-equipped family kitchen where you can prepare your own food, if you choose.
A Home from Home
The Ark is designed to be a home-from-home. Our award-winning housekeeping team go the ‘extra mile’ to make you feel at home at The Ark. From their exacting hygiene standards, a selection of non-clinical smelling products, choices of patterned bedding – they team do all they can to make your stay as comfortable as possible. The team were recently recognised as providing a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for cleanliness by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust.
Activity Rooms
Soft Play Room
We believe in the power of play and our Soft Play Room is the perfect place to do just that. With padded play equipment to explore, a ball pit, supportive bean bags, music and lights – our Soft Play Room is the ideal family space to have fun and make memories. We sanitise all equipment to ensure families can use the room safely without worry. Available for Noah’s Ark families to book.
Sensory Play Room
Our Sensory Room is a popular sanctuary. With a heated waterbed, bubble tube, optic fibre lights, music and lots of interactive play equipment our sensory room helps children with learning difficulties, developmental disabilities or sensory impairments to interact with the world around them. The room provides a safe space for children to relax and build their confidence. Available for Noah’s Ark families to book.
The Den
A place to play games, watch a film, or have a go on a virtual reality headset. In short, to relax and have fun. Our Den is a flexible space complete with lots of play equipment meaning that we can adapt the room for lots of different purposes.
Music Room
Packed full of instruments and special sensory sound equipment, our Music Room is the ideal place for music therapy sessions. Our trained specialist offers sessions that encourage the communication of feelings and emotions through music; everyone is given time to be seen, heard and listened to.
Creative Room
This is a space where children can create and express themselves through art. Being sensory based, Art Therapy supports emotional and psychological processing, and helps children make sense of challenging experiences. Materials might include paints, clay, collage, textiles and digital projection, and sessions can incorporate memory making and legacy work.
Hydrotherapy Pool
We offer water-based therapy in our relaxing hydrotherapy pool to aid relaxation, alleviate pain and relieve muscles. Sessions are available to families on a referral basis.
Rainbow Café
At our café, The Rainbow, our in-house team prepares wholesome, home-cooked food, with a menu that changes daily. Families visiting The Ark can purchase food and drinks for a small cost, whilst food is available free-of-charge for families staying at The Ark.
We can cater for various dietary requirements. Please note that food must be ordered in advance, before 10:30am.
Multi-faith Room
Whatever your faith, religion or other system of belief, our aim is to support you, accommodating your family’s needs and respecting the way in which you care for your child.
Our Multi-Faith Room at The Ark offers a private space for contemplation and prayer. There is also a quiet garden space directly outside.
Outside Spaces
Accessible Outdoor Playground
Our fully accessible playground is designed for fun. Facilities include a wheelchair accessible trampoline, swing, roundabout and seesaw plus a football goal, outdoor xylophone and seating. The playground is perfect for all the family to enjoy.
Sensory Garden
Adjacent to our playground we have an accessible sensory garden, designed as an interactive, therapeutic social space for visitors to use. The garden includes plants and flowers with interesting textures, colours and aromas, as well as sensory instruments. It provides a stimulating and fun place for children and a tranquil, contemplative space for families.
Nature Reserve
Nature is never far from The Ark. Set in a beautiful 7.5-acre nature reserve, our grounds offer wheelchair accessible outdoor experiences. In addition to our fully accessible playground and sensory garden, we have a 1.2km sensory walkway around the nature reserve. The path passes around our Butterfly Meadow, Wildlife Ponds and Bluebell Wood, and includes various places to sit dotted around the trail.
Care After Death
Bereavement Suites
We have two bereavement suites at The Ark, where a child can stay and be cared for after they have died and be visited by their family. The family can stay at The Ark with their child throughout this time, with our full support.
The Cabin
Our Cabin is a new purpose-built space away from The Ark, where we host bereavement support with our specialist team. We understand what life can be like for a family after a child dies, and are here to help you through the days, weeks, months and years ahead. Situated in our garden, The Cabin provides a separate, private space away from our main hospice building.
