The Group welcomed Ann Roberts, from the Community Fundraising Team at Ashgate Hospice, to our February meeting. She has been based at Hasland, as a volunteer, for the last 7 years, and gave us a very interesting and enlightening talk about the origins of the Hospice and of the need for much fundraising.
The Hospice was first proposed by Dr Dick Atkinson, who having visited a Sheffield Hospice, felt the need for a similar facility in North Derbyshire. A group and committee was formed in 1985, which was required to raise £2million to set the ball rolling. The original building began life with 14 beds when the Hospice first opened in October 1988. In 2002, an appeal was raised to provide another 8 beds, but due to staffing costs, only a total of 17 could be used at that time. The Clinical Commissioning Group came on board in 2014 to provide some funding, and the following year, although the Hospice was highly commended, the privacy of patients was highlighted as being out of date.
Other agencies come on board with the Hospice to provide palliative care, having a set of values to be open, respectful, and compassionate, and to be the best they can be, throughout the whole of North Derbyshire. The treatment is free of charge to patients not just with cancer but others with life limiting illnesses, such as Parkinson’s, Motor Neurone Disease, and Alzheimer’s Disease, but all need to be referred.
There are a couple of in-house Doctors as well as Doctors from surgeries who provide the care, along with a Community Nursing Team who work both at the Hospice and in patients’ own homes. Other personnel include a Chaplain and Chaplaincy Team, Physiotherapists, Therapists in other areas, Counsellors and Bereavement staff, all of whom were able to carry on during the lockdowns for Covid.
The total number of paid staff is 340, and there are almost 600 volunteers who help out in the 14 Hospice Shops, and 3 Coffee Shops around the area, as well as in the various fundraising teams, who all play their part in helping to generate the £11million annual cost to keep the Hospice running. Of this total, 30% does come from the Clinical Commissioning Groups but the remaining 70% needs to be fundraised. Some generous donations certainly help as do ‘gifts in kind’ from various sources, and support from local businesses.
Among the fundraising events, a good sum was raised from the recycling of Christmas Trees in January, and the ‘Light Up a Life’ event in December, when people can remember loved ones, also raises a substantial amount. The Hospice runs its own lottery, and of course the annual ‘Sparkle Run’ in July is wonderful for producing much needed income. All these events and others would not be able to take place without the help and support of the volunteers.
All in all, then, the ladies at the meeting were quite amazed to hear and appreciate just what money, time, energy and enthusiasm is needed to continue the incredible work done by the Hospice staff and volunteers.
The next meeting of the Women’s Group will be on Wednesday 1 March when we shall be having our AGM followed by Cheese and Wine. Do come along if you are able, everybody will be welcome.
On the following Saturday, 4 March, the Women’s Group will be organising and running the monthly Church Coffee Morning from 10am to 12pm. Again, it would be great to have your support.
Some of the forthcoming events on the first Wednesday of each month at 7pm will include talks on ‘Queen Mary’s Dolls House’, the ‘Work of the Woodland Trust’, and another on ‘Bees, Books and Babies’. The cost to you each meeting will be £2 which includes refreshments of tea/coffee, biscuits and a raffle ticket for the evening. If you would like more information about the Group, please do get in touch with Trish. Her contact details can be found on the inside back cover of this magazine.
Wendy Drake