The fifth national Hospice Care Week has seen St Elizabeth Hospice highlight the many ways they connect with patients, families, volunteers and supporters, in the community and at the hospice.
Many local people have connected with the hospice throughout the week, and staff at the local charity are hopeful that they will remain connected and continue support and spread the word about hospice care.
Mark Millar, chief executive at the hospice, said: “The theme for this year’s Hospice Care Week has been very fitting as we are very passionate about connecting with people, not just our patients and their families, but businesses, schools and individuals in the local community, as well as other organisations in the area.
“The more people we connect with, the more we can spread the word about what hospice care really is so we can reach the people who can benefit from our care and support and raise the millions of pounds we need every year to run the hospice.
“We would like to thank everyone who has connected with us and supported us this week, including our shops, everyone taking part in our Big Bucket-a-thon and the doctors surgeries who are supporting us through their flu clinics.”
Although Hospice Care Week has come to an end, St Elizabeth Hospice still relies on the support of the local community.
St Elizabeth Hospice needs to raise £9.1million every year, with the majority of that coming from people like you, through fundraising, donations and the income generated from its shops.
It’s not just financial support the hospice needs, you can help by spreading the word about hospice care to help raise awareness and ensure that any unmet need for hospice care, is met.
How can you remain connected?
• Continue to spread the word about St Elizabeth Hospice and the care it provides
• Volunteer at the hospice. They have over 1,100 volunteers who carry out a wide range of roles across the hospice, from working in the shops, to helping on reception, and more volunteers are always needed
• Take part in a hospice event such as the Christmas Day Dip or even organise your own event
• Collect your loose change in a hospice home collection box – those pennies soon add up
• Visit one of St Elizabeth Hospice’s 25 shops or donate items such as clothes, books, DVDs or homeware to your nearest shop
• Donate good quality furniture, the hospice collects for free
• Play the St Elizabeth Hospice Lottery for £1 a week for a chance to win the £1,000 weekly prize
• Make a donation in celebration of an anniversary or wedding
St Elizabeth Hospice factfile:
• St Elizabeth Hospice improves life for people living with a progressive illness such as cancer, motor neurone disease and heart failure.
• The hospice provides care and support to more than 2,000 patients and their families every year
• Its care is centred around each individual patient’s needs, meaning specialist support, wherever it is required
• Around 80% of its patients prefer to be cared for at home and the hospice’s specialist staff do everything they can to enable their wishes
• The hospice needs to raise £9.1million every year so their services can continue to be provided free of charge
• Around 1,100 volunteers give up their time every week or month to support the hospice, without whom they wouldn’t be able to open their doors