Lorraine Cardozo has been part of the Nightingale Hammerson family for more than 16 years. She was brought up in Streatham and as a Jewish South Londoner, Nightingale House has always been part of the backdrop of her life.
After a successful career of more than 20 years with the Alzheimer’s Society as Communications Manager, Lorraine semi-retired and spent a year caring for her aunt. She quickly realised she wasn’t quite ready to step away from work entirely and began looking for a role that would feel meaningful and worthwhile.
A friend suggested bereavement counselling and Lorraine enrolled on a course with the charity Cruse Bereavement Support. She went on to help establish the Lambeth branch and later became its Chair. Thoughts of Nightingale House were always at the back of her mind and when she saw an advert for the Residents Services’ team, she applied and was delighted to be offered the role.
Although Lorraine’s role in Residents Services’ was primarily around admissions, the position also involved supporting families following the death of a loved one. After 12 years in this role, she again flirted with the idea of retiring. Yet again she was not quite ready.
When a new role evolved as part of the Spiritual Care Team, working alongside Alastair Paviour Addison, Rafi Fuchs and Esther Livingstone, she was appointed Bereavement Support Lead.
“Within my role as Bereavement Support Lead, I am there for the families in both a practical and emotional way at what is often the most poignant and challenging time for them,” Lorraine explains. “Some families do not belong to a burial society and may not have the support network or financial means to arrange a funeral. Part of my role is to be there for them at this difficult time by helping them to navigate the process and ensuring they are not facing it alone.”
Thanks to the reliable and loyal contacts she has established over many years with burial societies and community organisations, Lorraine is able to secure support for Residents who have no family, no financial resources and no funeral arrangements in place.
She recalls one particularly moving example, “A Rabbi from one of the burial societies was so touched by the number of Nightingale Hammerson staff who attended a Resident’s funeral that he later agreed to arrange the burial of another Resident who had no family and no funding. Seeing the compassion and commitment of our care teams first-hand made all the difference.”
Lorraine is on call seven days a week. She logs on early morning to check the overnight reports, paying particular attention to Residents receiving palliative care. She checks how they are doing and keeps in close contact with families, offering guidance, reassurance and practical support whenever it is needed.
As part of the Spiritual Care Team, Lorraine and her colleagues work together to ensure that support is always available. Whether that means helping families understand their options, providing emotional comfort, co-ordinating arrangements or attending funerals and shivas, the team is there every step of the way.
While Rafi and Esther, the Spiritual Care Leads at Nightingale House and Hammerson House, provide spiritual support to Residents approaching end-of-life and their families, Lorraine’s role focuses on supporting loved ones. She understands that grief is deeply personal. No two families respond in the same way, and part of her role is recognising and respecting those differences. When a Resident dies unexpectedly and no arrangements have been made, families often need considerable guidance and reassurance.
“I am often speaking to people at the very earliest stages of grief,” she says. “You have to carefully judge how much support they need and when they are ready to receive it. Sometimes we have Residents who are completely alone, with no family and no money. When that happens, I will register the death myself and I work hard to make sure they receive the dignified funeral they deserve.”
For Lorraine the job is about far more than administration or practicalities. It is about being present for people during one of the most vulnerable moments of their life, helping to ease their burden and ensuring that every Resident is treated with respect in death as well as in life.
“I have loved all of my roles throughout my career,” Lorraine reflects. “But this one is the most rewarding. It is hugely humbling to listen to people talking about those they love and deeply satisfying to feel you make a real difference.”
