The heart was made in Axminster

The crochet hearts start in Axminster, in Devon. A community group there made hundreds of them and sent them east. They end up in the emergency department at St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey, in a small pack that also holds forget-me-not seeds, planting instructions, a condolence card and a jewellery pouch.

Alexandra Ghica is a clinical practice facilitator at Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals. She told the Woking News and Mail this week that the work is about making sure families know their loved one is remembered, and that they are not alone.

"The keepsakes are small, but they carry a great deal of meaning and compassion."

"The little things can make a lasting difference to someone who is grieving."

The project is called Beyond Goodbye. Ghica developed it with support from Sasha Campbell, the emergency department's end-of-life link nurse. In January the hospital said Campbell had begun offering crocheted hearts and flowers to patients and families at the end of life, after the Axminster group sent hundreds. Hospital staff now put the packs together with help from volunteers and from knitting groups nearby. They go out after a death in the department.

There is no A&E at Ashford Hospital. St Peter's, on Guildford Road in Chertsey, is the trust's 24-hour emergency department. It has its own x-ray and a counselling service. The two hospitals merged in 1998. They became a foundation trust in 2010. Ashford does planned care. St Peter's does the emergencies.

Stella Davey, the trust's divisional chief nurse, told the Woking paper that supporting families does not end when a loved one dies. The Nursing Times has shortlisted Beyond Goodbye in Critical and Emergency Care Nursing. The ceremony is on Thursday 29 October at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane. Ashford and St Peter's sit on a list of ten. They have not won yet. The shortlist is not the work. The hearts will go out whether or not anyone in Park Lane reads the name of the project aloud.

If you have been affected, Cruse Bereavement Support is on 0808 808 1677. Samaritans are on 116 123, any time.