The importance of community support this Hospice Care Week

As Hospice Care Week commences, one local charity is reminding people of the difference their support makes to the care they’re able to deliver.

Winchester Hospice opened its doors to local people a little over three years ago and, since then, has cared for over 1,000 patients at Burrell House, with many more cared for in their own homes.

This Hospice Care Week, the charity wants to remind people of the importance of their donations with around a third of their income each year coming from charitable giving.

Mark Hainy, Head of Charity at Winchester Hospice, said: “Put simply, we just wouldn’t be able to deliver the care we do at the hospice without the support of our community. Three years ago, it was their support which meant we were able to refurbish the building and make it suitable to care for patients. Since then, their support is even more invaluable, helping us to deliver specialist care to every person we look after.”

One of the patients who was cared for at Winchester Hospice recently is Stephen*. He said: “I really love it here. I have my own room which is pretty big, clean and tidy and I have non-stop, on-tap attention from lots and lots of different nurses and other practitioners and they take the view that they’re disappointed if they can’t help you. It’s been incredibly therapeutic and enabled me to deal with the things that have come along.”

One of the most important parts of the hospice for Stephen has been the garden, which he tries to spend time in every day. “The real turning point for me was the garden. This hospice has a very beautiful garden with a cascading waterfall, trees, plants and birds and it had been suggested to me that I went out there. At first, I didn’t want to go. It felt a bit like an old man being shown the sky for one last time. I said that to the occupational therapist and she encouraged me to give it a try.

“I went outside and my bed was lowered so that it was like a sunbed. It was a really hot day and there was a beautiful breeze. It was exactly the same as when I would go on holiday to Italy! At that moment I realised that I didn’t’ need anything else to be added to me or taken away from me in my experience, at that time.”

Local people raise hundreds of thousands of pounds every year to support the NHS hospice in delivering tailored and compassionate care to those living with a life-limiting illnesses. Speaking about those supporters, Jo Westerman, Fundraising Officer at the hospice, said: “Local people have been amazing. They continue to dig deep to support our work and I’m amazed at what people will do to raise money. There’s always something going on. Just this weekend we had hundreds of people support our Purple Night Walk and at the end of this week there's a 24-hour Pilates marathon. Just a few weeks later, a group will be heading off to the Sahara Desert to take part in a fundraising trek over five days. It’s incredible what people do for the hospice and I want to thank every single person for what they do to help care for our patients.”

*Please note, this name has been changed to protect the patient’s identity.