Hospice and Compassionate Community partners celebrate Hospice UK Awards success
St Elizabeth Hospice has been recognised for its dedication to helping people in Ipswich with much-needed grief and bereavement support.
St Elizabeth Hospice led a team including St Helena Hospice, St Nicholas Hospice Care, the University of East Anglia and the Pear Tree Centre, to launch the Compassionate Community project. The project offers local communities guidance on how to support each other through grief, as well as helping to tackle the taboo around death, and to spark important conversations about dying and bereavement.
Judi Newman (Chief Executive Officer at St Elizabeth Hospice), Guy Peryer (University of East Anglia), Lisa Parrish (St Helena Hospice), Sharon Basson (St Nicholas Hospice Care) and Lisa Paterson (St Nicholas Hospice Care) accepted the Innovation in Dying Matters Award on behalf of the St Elizabeth Hospice’s team while attending the Hospice UK Awards, held at the charity’s national conference in Liverpool.
Greg Cooper, Compassionate Communities Lead Project Manager at St Elizabeth Hospice, said: “St Elizabeth Hospice, St Helena Hospice and St Nicholas Hospice Care are really thrilled to have won Hospice UK’s Innovation in Dying Matters Award which gives recognition to all of the incredible local people and organisations who have come together to support their Compassionate Community in the past year in Suffolk and North East Essex.
“Dying Matters Awareness Week gave us all a great opportunity to focus our collective efforts, with an amazing number of people involved in creating and participating in a week-long programme of learning, sharing and exploring, which has also created a legacy across the region as we hospices continue to work together and in partnership with University of East Anglia to develop a Compassionate Communities approach.”
At the awards ceremony, Hospice UK CEO, Tracey Bleakley said: “Congratulations to St Elizabeth Hospice on winning the Innovation in Dying Matters Award. Their dedication and commitment to providing vital hospice and end of life care has been amazing to see, and without doubt has made a huge difference to the many people who rely on their support.
“We had some incredible entries for our awards this year. In spite of a difficult 18 months, there are so many inspiring projects, people and volunteers who’ve made a huge difference in their communities by helping people get the vital care they need.
“Whether helping to raise awareness about what end of life care is, making sure everyone in the community can get help they need or supporting families through the loss of a loved one, each of our winners has made a massive difference to the care people with life-limiting conditions and their families receive.”