Meeting and making friends
Being in hospital away from friends and family can feel a bit lonely. At Evelina London there are lots of young people just like you. There are plenty of opportunities to make new friends, and it’s really easy to stay in touch with friends from home too.
Here are some tips from our patients about making friends at hospital:
It’s really easy to make friends in hospital because there are a lot of people going through the same things you are.
Just share your experiences, and see if you can fit in.
Be yourself, be kind to people, smile.
Try and make friends with somebody nearby, somebody in the next bed, somebody in the same bay as you because they might not be the same age as you. I’ve been here a while and I’ve seen loads of kids that are different ages to me, younger than me, older than me, but I think I’ve made quite good friends with most of them.
Also there’s a school so you can meet lots of children your age who are going through the same thing and they can help you and make you feel better.
Making new friends
There are lots of places to meet other young people at Evelina London:
- on the ward – you will be with other young people like you. You could get together in the play area on the ward to play a computer game or listen to music together
- while you wait for your appointment – you could meet someone playing on the games console or watching TV
- at the café or juice bar
- at the Evelina Scouts and Guides
- at the hospital school.
You might meet someone with the same condition as you. It could be helpful to talk to each other about how you feel and share tips.
The nurse on your ward can tell you about any groups of young people who meet to:
- play games
- go on trips to the cinema or bowling
- talk about how they feel.
Friends from home
When you are at Evelina London, it’s really easy to stay in touch with friends from home.
They can come to visit you during your stay. Friends and family can visit until 8pm every evening.
You can bring a smart phone, tablet or laptop to hospital to help you keep in touch on email, Skype or social media. Don’t forget to bring a charger too.
There’s free WiFi at Evelina London. Ask a nurse to help you get online.
Please tell a nurse on your ward if you bring a phone, tablet or laptop with you. They can help you to keep it in a safe place.
Guides and Scouts
Our Guide and Scout group meets:
- every Monday
- 6.15pm to 7.15pm
- Level 3 – Beach, in the atrium.
Everyone is welcome, aged 6 to 18. You can even bring your brother or sister along.
It doesn’t matter if you haven’t been to Guides or Scouts before. You can come along and join in the fun.
At each meeting we do lots of great activities. You will earn a badge for each meeting you come to.
If you have fun and want to carry on when you leave hospital, we can put you in touch with your local Guide or Scout group.