Help us to give families the chance to experience what could be their last special Christmas together.

Support your local Hospice and help bring our expert care into the homes of the people who will need it most this winter.

The hopes for Christmas don’t change when you’re coping with a serious life-limiting illness. Christmas is often a huge focal point, because for many people we support, this could be their last. Like Michael, a patient that Kelly one of our Clinical Nurse Specialists supported with the rest of the team last year. Michael had bowel cancer and spent time in and out of hospital because of his condition. His biggest wish was to stay at home, with his wife Andy for Christmas and for his final days.

And that’s our goal – to give people the care and support they need in the place they feel most comfortable. Kelly spent lots of time with Michael and Andy, helping to manage his symptoms and chatting through his concerns and fears. Our Family Support Team also helped Andy, who was struggling emotionally and physically from the demands of looking after Michael; our Hospice at Home Team provided some respite care during the nights so Andy could get some much needed rest.

Rest, expert care, and a listening ear, contribute to making a family’s journey the best it can be at the end of someone’s life. Help us support more patients and their loved ones like Andy and Mike by making a donation this Christmas, enabled them to spend those precious last month’s together, at home.

We are so lucky to have supporters like you who understand the value of all we do and we’re working incredibly hard to make every penny go a bit further. But a donation from you this winter, of whatever you can afford, will make an enormous difference to local families

We need your help this winter, to bring our nurses and wider clinical teams into the homes of people within the local community who need our expert care – to enable them to have the Christmas they hope for, with the people they love.

Thank you   

Hello,

I want to tell you about my husband Michael; it’s nice to be able to talk about him, to share a bit of his life with you today.

My Mike was larger than life; he was generous to a fault and would give you his last. He worshiped his children and his grandchildren. He was my knight in shining armor.

Mike getting ill was a huge shock to us both. He was such a big, vital man – so full of life. They’d sent him one of those bowel cancer kits and I’d been nagging at him to do the test. He noticed some bleeding and mentioned he would go to the doctors, but a few days later I put my foot down and told him to make an appointment, right now.

They sent him straight to hospital for lots of tests. When they told him it was bowel cancer, it felt like the end of the world. But Mike wasn’t one to stand by – he wanted to do everything he could, even when it was difficult.

He was quite poorly having chemotherapy when our last grandchild Jacob was born. It was the first time I ever saw him upset; as he was only able to see little Jacob through the window that day.

I truly can’t remember when the Hospice came into our lives because it’s like they were always there. They were wonderful; we’d go in for coffee mornings or a game of bingo, or just chat with all the people we met. Mike got to know everyone so well, he offered lifts or brought people round for dinner. That’s just the kind of person he was.

Kelly, one of the Hospice nurses, would visit Michael at home, sort out his medications and chat through his worries. She became a friend to us both. I was doing my best to look after Michael, to put on a brave face but I was simply exhausted. Kelly said, ‘Why don’t you have a couple of nights respite from our Hospice at Home Team, someone to come in and help?’. It was so wonderful to have someone else there, time for me to get back my strength.

Mike spent so much time in and out of hospital that last year, but he was desperate to come home. We managed to get him back just in time for Christmas. He hadn’t been eating much but on Christmas day he managed some of the ham and mashed potatoes and gravy I’d made.

But after that, the Hospice nurses were coming in more often, making sure he wasn’t in pain. He was where he wanted to be, with me by his side. In the early hours of New Year’s Day, he didn’t wake up again.

I miss Mike desperately. But I want to impress upon you how important the Hospice is – I simply wouldn’t have been able to cope without them.

Today, I’m doing better; I’ve moved closer to my family and I’m going in for bereavement support. It’s just one more way the Hospice is helping me after losing the love of my life. Please support the Hospice this Christmas – and help them to look after families like mine who might need them.

Andy