4th March 2019
Nottinghamshire Hospice champions campaign to widen access to care
Supporters of Nottinghamshire Hospice are being invited to open up their wardrobes and their kitchens as part of a national campaign launched today.
People are encouraged to host dinner parties to raise money for the hospice and to raid their wardrobes to donate clothing and other items to the hospice shops as part of the ‘Open Up Hospice Care’ campaign led by Hospice UK.
Nottinghamshire Hospice, one of the campaign partners, is also opening a drop in café on Fridays from 10am – 2pm, for people to drop off contributions.
Jo Polkey, Director of Care at Nottinghamshire Hospice says: “We’re encouraging people to get behind the campaign, whether it’s by spring cleaning their wardrobes and finding items to donate, or by inviting friends and family round for a dinner party. It all helps raise vital funds to help us expand our care to more terminally ill patients across Nottinghamshire.
“We are opening the hospice premises throughout March on Friday afternoons for people to drop in with donations and join us for a cup of tea and cake.”
Widening access to hospice care
As well as raising funds, the national campaign is aimed at promoting the care that hospices across the UK provide in people’s homes, and to widen access to that care to more families.
Last year Nottinghamshire Hospice provided vital end of life care for 800 families in patients’ homes through its Hospice at Home service, and has recently expanded the care it provides by introducing its new Hospice Night Support service in November which responds urgent to callouts for help from patients and carers in the night.
One Nottinghamshire family who received support from the new service were the family of 80-year old Alice Toseland, who was told she had just a few weeks to live after learning that her cancer had spread. Alice was keen to get home from hospital and the hospice Night Support Service stepped enabled her to be discharged.
Because of her diagnosis, her family celebrated Christmas with her early, but she outlived that diagnosis, and died just after Christmas. Both Hospice at Home and Night Support teams supported Alice and helped her to be at home when she died.
Alice’s daughter Lynda said: “I cannot thank your team enough for your constant help with my mum especially towards the end. The hospice staff were a constant help not only to my mum but also me, especially at times when I was there on my own at night.
“It’s terrible to watch someone you love struggling to breathe at the end of their life but thanks to the hospice support it was as nice as it could be in an awful situation. Your help and support has been beyond words.”
The hospice is also due to extend its care to younger people and is currently working with a children’s hospice to help plug the gap between children’s and adult hospice care.
A vital role to play in an ageing society
The campaign coincides with the publication of national research which shows that 72 per cent of UK adults say support from a local hospice would make them feel more confident in supporting a loved one with a terminal condition at home, while 82 per cent feel the role of hospices will become more important in the next decade due to growing care needs of the UK’s ageing population.
Tracey Bleakley, Chief Executive of Hospice UK said: “For some, hospice care can seem a remote reality but we are all living longer, often with complex health conditions, and more of us will need this care in the future ourselves, or will be caring for a loved one who does.
As our survey shows, the British public clearly values the role of hospices and recognises they will become more important in future given the seismic shift in our rapidly ageing society and with increasing strain on the NHS. However, despite this, many people find out about hospice care far too late.
“With its focus on comfort not cure and promoting quality of life, hospice care can help people live well until the end of life and support their loved ones. We want to share the benefits of hospice care more widely so everyone is able to get this vital support.”
If you have clothes or items to donate please take them to your local Nottinghamshire Hospice Shop or come to the drop in café at Nottinghamshire Hospice, 384 Woodborough Road, Nottingham, NG3 4JF, between 10 am and 2pm any Friday in March