The theme for this Hospice Care Week is ‘This is what it takes’. Did you know that it takes more than 350 dedicated staff members and 900 volunteers to provide St Helena Hospice’s expert care and support?
2020 hasn’t been a normal year for anyone, with everyone facing challenges we didn’t expect; but thanks to the incredible work of its staff and volunteers, and support of the local community, St Helena Hospice has been able to support more local people facing incurable illness and bereavement over the last few months, compared to the same period last year.
This week, the local hospice wants to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported them since the pandemic began.
Lisa Parrish, St Helena’s director of care, said: “It is thanks to the unwavering and generous support and understanding of our local community that we have been able to continue to provide the best possible care to our patients and their families.
“In the first three months of the pandemic alone, we supported more than 1,550 patients and family members with the majority of them being supported in their own homes. We provided 386 rapid response visits to patients in distress at home; received 11,326 calls to our SinglePoint 24/7 advice line; and had 93 admissions to The Hospice.
“It was an incredibly tough time for us and we faced many challenges including having to restrict visiting to The Hospice, something no hospice wants to do; we had concerns in relation to access to PPE to keep our staff safe; and like all charities we were extremely concerned about the impact on our income as our shops closed and fundraising was cancelled.
“However, we have been overwhelmed by the support we have received, from people raising funds at home or contributing to our urgent appeal; people helping source PPE during desperate times; donating items to our shops; and sending messages of love and support to staff and volunteers – this is what it takes to enable us to continue to provide our vital care and support round the clock to our patients and families.”
This is what it takes – here are some of the ways you have supported St Helena over the last few months:
• More than 2,000 people donated to the urgent appeal raising an incredible £265,0000
• 358 people took on a challenge at home
• 833 people signed up to play the St Helena lottery
• Around 18,000 people donated items to the donation centre
• Over 2,500 meals cooked and delivered for hospice staff from The Crown at Stoke by Nayland
• £195,000 raised from online shop sales
Claire Appleby was cared for at St Helena Hospice at the beginning of the pandemic before she died, aged 35, in May.
Her sister, Louise Lovesey, 34, who now lives in Basingstoke, said: “I visited my sister, Claire, at The Hospice a couple of times, but when COVID-19 hit, no one wanted to risk her health by visiting. Unfortunately, the next time we saw each other was for me to say goodbye, at which point she could no longer talk.
“When we visited Claire in The Hospice we had to wear gloves, masks and aprons. We could also only go in one at a time which was hard, as sometimes you just needed another family member there to hug or to bounce conversation off. I am not complaining; I was just grateful to be able to see her one last time.
“When it came to her end of life care, the nurses were amazing. They were kind, caring, considerate, friendly, supportive, comforting and helpful. They cared for Claire with such respect and dignity and looked after our family in her last week. They went above and beyond to ensure Claire was as comfortable as could be and cared for her as if she was their own child.
“I have never felt so much love and compassion from complete strangers, especially on the day she left us. It felt, to me, like they had lost a family member too.”
To mark Hospice Care Week, St Helena Hospice is asking the local community to Go Purple!
Clacton Pier is lighting up its building purple from Monday 5th to Wednesday 7th October and St Helena’s shops have created eye catching and creative purple window displays.
There are plenty of ways you can Go Purple to support your local hospice, including wearing purple, colouring your hair purple, holding a purple cake sale and much more.