Our resilience and revival - 2020/21

Our resilience and revival 2020/21

CONTINUING OUR CARE

Despite the effects of Covid-19 on Cornwall, we managed to keep our hospices open and our services available. Thanks to our key workers we….

Admitted 404 patients at our 2 hospices.

40% were able to return to their home or care home after receiving palliative care.

Provided 748 hours of care to people with Lymphoedema at 732 face-to-face appointments and during 400 telephone appointments (a service introduced because of the pandemic).

Received 1,479 calls to our advice line run in support of other healthcare professionals.

Cornwall Hospice Care offers patient and family support services such as bereavement counselling, this included 1,867 appointments during which 1,312 hours of support was given.

“I salute our charity’s front line staff who’ve continued to care for our terminally ill patients during the pandemic. The doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, chefs, housekeepers, maintenance team and administrators have shown extraordinary commitment and as a result we’ve continued to be there for those who need us most.”

Gina Starnes, Director of Clinical Services Our Listening Ear service set up to support bereaved people, those needing mental and physical help or facing isolation and financial worries during the pandemic, received 222 calls, with some lasting up to an hour.

Our Virtual Community Friendship Café now has 121 members.

More than 400 delegates attended online seminars hosted by our Community Services team.

The pandemic massively impacted the charity’s Neighbourhood Hubs project that offers advice and support to people in their local community. Consultations had to move from venues where people could be seen face-to-face to telephone calls, but still 161 patients and 24 carers were supported with relevant treatments being provided by our Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists.

Pictured on front cover Amanda Partridge, Healthcare Assistant at St Julia's Hospice

OUR COVID-19 YEAR

In praise of our resilience and our revival, David Renwick, volunteer Chair of Trustees and Paul Brinsley, Chief Executive look back on a troubled year; The last financial year at Cornwall Hospice Care was dominated by the impact of the Covid pandemic. Procedures had to change quickly, digital technology was embraced, our shops closed and our fundraising activities ground to a halt. Despite this, the collective determination was to keep our front line open and our key workers providing the hospice care that’s at the heart of what we do.

David Renwick David Renwick, our Chair of Trustees, reflects on a challenging 12 months; “The demand for our services increased sharply, reflecting our growing role in the integrated care system in Cornwall. At the same time, our ability to generate the income we needed was severely limited. We were, however, fortunate to receive financial support from Cornwall Council, Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group and Government, via a number of schemes and for this, we remain extremely grateful.”

“Thanks to the hard work and professionalism of our clinical staff, we were able to keep all of our 20 hospice beds open and operating safely. You’ll read more in this report about the increased number of inpatients we cared for and our continued determination to expand our services into the community.”

“I must pay tribute to all our staff and volunteers. Some have been asked to work harder than ever, forgoing their days off to keep beds open. Many others were required to stay at home after being placed on furlough. The majority of our volunteers were also encouraged to stay away because of government restrictions and while our shops were closed and fundraising activities curtailed.

I’d like to thank everyone for showing such commitment as we navigated the charity through this most difficult of years.”

Our resilience and revival 3

The pandemic triggered significant changes to our day-to-day operating model as the charity responded to the double challenge of protecting staff and volunteers while continuing to provide vital end of life care to patients and their families. Paul Brinsley is Cornwall Hospice Care’s Chief Executive; “I’m immensely proud of all our amazing people who rose, as one, to this unexpected and unwanted challenge.

It’s thanks to their constant commitment and dedication that we continued to deliver the best Paul Brinsley possible standard of end of life care to the people of Cornwall. We embraced technology like never before, taking some of our community services to online platforms and hosting a number of very popular seminars that attracted interest from across the UK and beyond.

It takes an extraordinary team pulling together to cope with such a devastating crisis and I’m full of admiration for each and every person who played their part as we navigated our way through such a terrible year. We’re now meeting the 2021/22 year head on and continuing to build on the hard work that has helped our charity survive. The legacy of our 40th anniversary and this pandemic will be a determination to grow and develop in readiness for the next chapter of our care.

Meetings went virtual when, where possible, our teams stayed at home. Pictured above is one of our Trustee Board meetings held in February 2021.

4 Cornwall Hospice Care

COUNTING THE COST OF COVID-19 Covid-19 was a crisis like no other. The pandemic brought all our income generating activities to a halt and yet demand for our services rose.

Graham Clarke, our Finance Director, explains how we protected our front line services when all our income sources ground to a halt; “Patient numbers rose by 6% with 404 people being admitted to our hospices through the last financial year. They needed us and we were determined to be there offering our end of life care.

However, our shops were closed for seven months of the year meaning a £4 million loss of income.

Our fundraising activities were also curtailed to the tune of £0.7m. We rely on legacies and gifts in Wills to fund a Graham Clarke large proportion of our services. These were £0.75m lower than expected in the year. This was partially due to solicitors’ offices being closed.

Faced with such devastating losses we had to rely on Government support initiatives and our own creativity to close the funding gap. With the help of supporters across Cornwall and beyond, Terry’s Bed Appeal raised an incredible £0.3m. We also received generous additional support of £0.4m from the Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group against the contract for services that we have with them. Retail grants came from Cornwall Council to ensure we could open our shops when suitable and further grants were secured through Hospice UK and NHS England. These were worth £2m. Up to 100 of our staff were placed on furlough at various times during the year which allowed us to claim back their wages from the Government Jobs Retention Scheme. From this we received £1m.

We also looked very closely at all areas of expenditure to see where savings could be made that wouldn’t impact on the care we give. Sadly, this involved job losses and around 30 of our much-valued colleagues were made redundant.

We reduced the size of our van fleet and made significant changes to the way our retail business managed its operations. All non-essential expenditure was cancelled or postponed across the charity. Compared to our budgeted expenditure, the total amount saved was £1.4m. Our investment portfolio also performed very well and made gains of £0.4m.

The upshot is that the amount of our loss in 2020/21 was restricted to just £0.1m meaning we were able to maintain our 20 hospice beds and to continue admitting the patients who needed us to be there.”

A VIEW FROM THE FRONT LINE

When Covid-19 took a hold, it was felt in every corner of our charity, but particularly on our front line at our two hospices.

Our key workers faced anxious times as they continued to offer care to end of life patients. We also provided support to our NHS colleagues and as a result our admissions increased.

It was a challenging time.

To find out more we spoke to one of our hospice team, Senior Staff Nurse Claire Collings from Mount Edgcumbe Hospice;

How did life change for you when the pandemic hit?

Anxiety levels rose across the whole team. Daily guidance from the government was changing all the time and it was a new experience for us all.

It felt like we were stepping in to the unknown and it was, to be honest, an upsetting time. We had daily catch ups where staff concerns were addressed and I felt the need to be strong and remain calm as some colleagues with vulnerable family members or their own health to consider, needed support.

We also had vulnerable patients to care for and had to get to grips with relevant and new Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and how to wear it.

Through good practice we remained a Covid-19 free environment. I have to say the restrictions proved frustrating too.

What were your thoughts as the cases of Covid-19 rose?

During the first lockdown, it felt like we were waiting for it to hit us and there was a strange feeling of unrest. Going to work helped me maintain normality and we worked together as a team. Having a sense of humour through the darkest of times was of great benefit and kept me grounded. We had to get on with life as the patients and their families still needed us as they faced the hardest journey of all, with possible loss and bereavement.

What’s been hardest thing to face while being on our front line over the last 18 months?

The hospice has always been seen as a kind of second home by our patients and families, somewhere they can relax and spend that important precious time with each other. However, things had to change and restrictions introduced to allow us to care for our patients and families in a safe manner.

With restricted visiting and relatives unable to congregate in the concourse there was a feeling of emptiness and stillness about the place. It was also hard not being able to hug a relative in distress!

6 Cornwall Hospice Care

“I’m proud to be part of our hospice care and I’m proud of all my lovely colleagues.

Covid-19 still continues to be part of our daily lives but we strive to provide excellent care...”

Claire Collings

Wearing masks all the time can restrict communication between staff and patients/families, they can’t see our smiles and facial expressions and also it’s a barrier for patients who have hearing difficulties. PCR tests were daunting at first, but then there’s the relief when they come back negative! It feels strange to think this is now part of our normal lives.

Our hospices were extremely busy, what was it like being part of a team that kept on caring for end of life patients despite Covid-19?

It was rewarding, but difficult and stressful at the same time. By being strong and communicating together as a team, we’ve maintained our high standards of care and support and it’s a credit to our units that we haven’t compromised and have kept our beds open for the people of Cornwall.

We had extraordinarily kind feedback from families, did that help?

Yes, and it was amazing. Emotions were running high understandably with so many restrictions for visitors, for instance dogs had to isolate for 72 hours before they could come in to see patients and people couldn’t visit until they’d had a negative test result. Most people are completely compliant and patients also feel more protected by the measures. It’s tough for us as staff but we still receive lovely cards and cakes, chocolates, etc. so we must be doing the right thing!

I’m proud to be part of our hospice care and I’m proud of all my lovely colleagues. Covid-19 still continues to be part of our daily lives but we strive to provide excellent care and long may this continue.

Our resilience and revival 7

WE WENT DIGITAL

Our Community Services team were busy developing a range of face-to-face services when Covid-19 arrived and sent everything in to a spin. The team had to hastily rearrange how they provided help for those they were supporting in the community. They weren’t short of ideas!

The popular Friendship Cafés held across Cornwall to provide health and welfare support to the community, had to stop. Undaunted by this, the team created our Virtual Community Friendship Café on Facebook which now has 121 members including healthcare professionals and members of the public looking for help and support. The face-to-face cafés will be back, but only when the time’s right.

Early in the pandemic Community Services were also asked to facilitate the Cornwall Bereavement Network. The plan was to provide a service Monday to Friday to signpost callers to organisations that could help them with isolation and bereavement. In six months, they received 72 calls and then the service was passed to PALS, the Patient Advice and Liaison Service, in Bodmin.

When working on the Cornwall Bereavement Network the team noticed there was a need in the community for wider telephone support and this led to the development of the Listening Ear service. Callers are offered up to 6 one-hour telephone sessions covering a range of subjects from bereavement to isolation, spirituality, physical and mental health due to bereavement, and signposting.

Volunteers are now being trained to take on this important service.

Supporting this is our new online Useful Links Directory that provides contact details for a huge range of support organisations. Subjects include bereavement, cancer and oncology, carers, finance, general health and support, housing and homelessness, learning disabilities, mental health, neurological conditions, planning and end of life, transport and mobility and useful podcasts.

Find out more here Community Services | Cornwall Hospice Care

8 Cornwall Hospice Care

WE’RE EVOLVING

An early development by our Community Services team was the introduction of Neighbourhood Hubs.

Community based events, they’re aimed at helping terminally ill patients to take back control of their lives and to live as well as possible. Unfortunately, Covid-19 restrictions put an end to these being held in community based venues, but work continued to provide individual support for those needing the service. We are planning to relaunch the Hubs in early autumn 2021.

The team also worked to develop a range of self-help resources aimed at supporting people with Lymphoedema advice, managing breathlessness and mindfulness and relaxation techniques.

These are available via the charity’s website.

‘What Matters?’ is a new publication for those approaching or planning for end of life in Cornwall.

It’s a joint venture that our Community Services team created with the support of Community Connect. The newsletter is aimed at patients, service users and the general public as well as other health and social care professionals.

Read 'What Matters?' Community Services | Cornwall Hospice Care So what’s next for our Community Services? Watch out for Walk and Talk Groups - a new service we’re working on right now. We’re also going to be taking part in Compassionate Communities, working with a range of other organisations to ensure we’re all providing what our communities need.

Our resilience and revival 9

TAKING A LEAD

Our Community Services department also introduced a series of very successful online seminars.

The idea was developed at the start of summer 2020 when the team realised the value of continuing to network with other care providers and to share experience and learnings. By organising the events it put Cornwall Hospice Care at the lead of important national and international conversations, attracting delegates from across the world and headline speakers.

The first event held in two-hour sessions over three days, considered ‘Community engagement and Covid-19’ and attracted 115 delegates.

Successful, it also provided the team with a range of learnings and a determination to organise another seminar.

Word spread about the value of the new seminars and 300 delegates took part in discussions about ‘Palliative and end of life support in Cornwall – Joining up the services’.

Seminar 3 was the most successful yet. ‘What Matters Most To YOU At The End’ attracted delegates from as far afield as Canada, New York City, Ohio and California.

Speakers included a range of regional and national experts. The Reverend Mark Richards, the Spirituality Lead at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Treliske, was joined by James Norris from The Digital Legacy Association (www. digitallegacyassociation.org) and Clair Fisher from Dying Well UK (www. dyingwell.uk). It was a fast paced event designed to get everyone thinking about what needs to be done to allow people to ‘live well’! Such has been the success of the seminars that more are now being planned so keep watching our website for details.

Find out more and watch previous seminars here Online Seminars | Cornwall Hospice Care

10 Cornwall Hospice Care

SHARING OUR KNOWLEDGE

We put importance on sharing our knowledge with colleagues in other areas of care. Our education team went virtual as soon as the pandemic took hold, immediately altering their courses to offer online learning to our staff and those in external organisations.

The two key subjects of ‘Syringe Driver’ and ‘Verification of Death’ training were offered online and immediately well received. 142 people from outside organisations benefited from the online training, alongside 51 of our own staff.

Sue Sharratt, our Education Facilitator, also offered virtual sessions designed especially for care home staff, providing time to answer questions about various subjects and to support people facing difficult conversations with patients and their families. The education team were also involved in the seminars we organised, working with the Community Services team.

As we moved in to the new financial year and the next phase of Covid, the team started providing bespoke training courses for care homes that have been delivered at the homes where staff can’t be released to travel to training.

We’re now involved in national and local education project development, including Coordinate My Care and Gold Standard Framework training.

Sue Sharratt

Our resilience and revival 11

OUR CARE DURING COVID-19

Despite the many difficulties presented by Covid-19, our key workers continued to provide end of life care to patients in our two hospices throughout the financial year 2020 to 2021. In fact, they cared for more patients than in the year before, offering support to 404 terminally ill people at a time when visitor numbers had to be severely restricted and the usual buzz of the hospice was muted. As a result of that extraordinary care and support, feedback from our patients and their families was rewarding.

“During the time she was with you she felt safe and cared for, being able to be with her at the end was a great comfort for me and my brother. It was a difficult time, more so because of the restrictions due to Covid, but it was made bearable by the wonderful team at the hospice. You all have to deal with an incredibly difficult time for patients and families but we are in awe of your compassion, professionalism & kindness. Our children couldn’t be with their Grandma to say goodbye but will become supporters of the hospice and are already keen to raise money to support you.

Thank you all.”

“The whole team were amazing. My mum arrived, very poorly and frightened but within the hour she was much happier, and felt reassured she had come to the right place. From reception, housekeeping, cleaning and all the medical staff, everyone ‘went beyond’ what I would have expected. You turned my mum around to such a degree that she was able to come back home with loads of support put in place.

Thanks to the Occupational Therapy staff!!”

12 Cornwall Hospice Care

“When I was told my sister was dying of cancer my life fell apart, she has an 8-year old daughter and I knew we had to tell her (then 7) that mummy wasn’t coming home this time. The staff (all staff) that looked after her were fantastic, kind, caring and paid attention to detail. I was always made welcome and nothing was ever too much trouble. As time went by her condition worsened meaning her daughter could no longer visit (our decision) but the staff let us put pictures of her up in her room and make sure her two teddies stayed in bed with her, so her daughter and niece would have her smell on them when she was gone. I was with her when she slipped away and the staff on night shift were brilliant, they made me a cup of tea and were very attentive. I could not have wished for better staff. A HUGE THANK YOU to them all for me and my family.

Fantastic and Peaceful!”

“I wish to personally thank all staff, without exception at the hospice. Clearly this was a very difficult time for me but the care, attention and professionalism shown at the hospice made my situation more comfortable to deal with.

I was particularly comforted by the respect shown towards her physical and emotional needs, keeping her clean and comfortable at all times. Superb work from all involved in a very difficult situation with Covid-19.”

“Considering we were trying to do our best during the Covid situation, it all worked brilliantly and I know mum was at peace in the end and slipped away hearing her three children having a laugh and getting together. Thanks so much for all you did to ease mum’s pain, I can’t thank you enough.”

Our resilience and revival 13

EVERYONE’S A FUNDRAISER

In a year when up was down and down up, our fundraising team reflect on how they weathered the Covid-19 storm.

In March 2020 we delivered our ever-popular Run Falmouth Half Marathon, but little did we know that this would be the last time we saw lovely people, face-to-face for well over a year!

As the world began to grind to a halt, we stopped all events and community activities and took a good look at what was in front of us in an albeit uncomfortable environment as an events led fundraising team. However, we were agile and responsive to opportunities, having the freedom to develop products quickly.

This meant a whirlwind of virtual marathons, sportives, triathlons, swims, treks and haircuts! The total of which was fundraising success of over £70,000 with minimal expense.

It didn’t stop there either, our fundraisers took to the phones and these calls kick started our Sponsor a Nurse campaign, something more important now than ever.

The rewards of changing how we deliver events means we are more inclusive than ever, with marathons involving children and those who perhaps had never thought they could achieve that accolade.

Ultimately, it was the perfect example of our team and our supporters doing all it takes to fund the care. Now we’re looking forward to ‘live’ events and will see you out there!

Many of our staff and volunteers took part in the virtual events we created, including Jane Appleton from our fundraising team who writes; “I’d gone from delivering our Run Falmouth event, to furlough, all in the space of a few days. The remaining members of the fundraising team were quick off the mark creating Your Marathon Your Pace. People were encouraged to sign up to run a marathon, but they could choose to run it in a day or over the course of a month!

This event was brilliant. It gave me focus during lockdown and I was delighted to be raising money for our charity.Waving at our friends as we circumnavigated Par duck pond came to be a real highlight for us during a time when our bin left the house more than we did!”

WE WERE COVID-19 FUNDRAISERS One of our new events was the DIY Coast to Coast Walk along the Saints Way. People could walk it in one during the month of September, or in several stages across the month. Lynne Dewar from St Austell signed her whole family up and looks back at their adventure: “Back in August 2020, whilst scrolling through my Facebook feed I spotted an announcement about the opportunity to walk Coast to Coast along the Saints Way, whilst raising funds for Cornwall Hospice Care. It immediately appealed to me - first I had always wanted to walk the Saints Way, secondly I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to raise money for our local hospice and thirdly I thought it was time my 10-year-old stretched his legs a little further than a normal dog walk!

Mount Edgcumbe Hospice remains close to our hearts and the work they do is vitally important to both patients and their loved ones. When we experienced the hospice at first hand, we found that from the moment we stepped through the door the support, calmness and love was evident in unbelievably sad times.

Our whole family (Granny, Mummy, Daddy, Alex (7) and James (10), family friend Margaret, plus the dog) signed up for the challenge and in fact we were joined along the way by some old school friends who also fancied taking part.

We thoroughly enjoyed the chance to explore the Cornish countryside, saw things we never normally would and stopped for refreshments in the various hostelries on route. It was a great experience, and I’m really proud to say that once all sponsorship had come in we raised just over £1,000 for the charity.”

Thank you Team Dewar!

Left to Right; Margaret Stone (granny), Lynne Dewar (writer), Margaret Jane (family friend), Chris Dewar (husband of Lynne) and in front, left is James and right is Alex.

Our resilience and revival 15

TERRY’S BED APPEAL

If you’ve read the story of our fundraising year in 2020/21, you’ll know that we had to rapidly go virtual. Now we’d like to tell you about another significant fundraising event, Terry’s Bed Appeal.

During the first lockdown we benefited from government support schemes and grant funding, in addition to the income generated from our virtual events. This combination helped keep all our beds open during this incredibly difficult period - we were, and still are, massively grateful for every penny that helped us get through.

As September approached however, this support was coming to an end, but our fundraising options were still very limited. Beds at the hospices had been full throughout the pandemic, but there was now a real danger that some would have to close – the time had come to ask our community for their help.

Then we met Terry. Terry was a patient at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice who needed our care after being diagnosed with cancer. He was passionate about the care he had received and described his bed there as being a godsend. When he knew we were launching an appeal to keep beds open, he desperately wanted to help, so Terry bravely became the very real face of our public appeal. An appeal to keep beds open for patients like him, who need the compassionate end of life care that we provide.

Sadly, Terry passed away just before we launched his appeal, but with the blessing of his family, the appeal still bore his name and the response was staggering. The appeal raised an incredible £287,922 from a combination of donations (the most we have ever received for an appeal) and supporting activities.

Terrys Bed Appeal provided stability for us in a time of turmoil. As we move into the future, you will certainly play another key role as we rebuild our resilience and we humbly thank you on behalf of all of our patients; you are there for us when we need support.

Terry

In memory of David Terrence Talsfield-Smith - Terry

16 Cornwall Hospice Care

BATTLING BACK

A year in flux has left our fundraising team thinking ‘what next’? The answer is a little more complicated than a return to what we used to do.

Entering 2021 we were aware that people were weary of lockdowns and even more weary of virtual activities. Sadly the anniversary of Run Falmouth, the last time we were out at an event, passed with not a lot to celebrate. However, the resilient souls that we are, we came up with an online charity art auction that raised £20,000 and helped keep the care funded!

The future though is uncertain; we know that there’s a desire from people to return to events of old, yet these are weighed up against fear and anxiety of returning to the crowded mass starts. What is clear is that our future is a little more cautious and diversification is key; for example there are certainly events on our horizon, probably fewer than before, but we will also be doing more to connect supporters and donors so more nurses can be sponsored.

Underneath all of this, is a keen awareness that legacies fund an extraordinary amount of the care provided by the clinical teams and you can expect a greater focus here in our future plans.

Find out about the many ways you can support us Fundraising | Cornwall Hospice Care Our team and supporters all enjoyed our Coast and Clay Sportive in July 2021.

It was great to be back!

Our resilience and revival 17

Sunday 5th December A beautiful and moving tribute to our loved ones On the evening of Sunday 5th December 2021 we will once again be hosting our Light Up A Life celebration at the stunning Truro Cathedral.

The service brings our community together to remember and celebrate the lives of those we have lost, and for many, signals the start of the festive season. This year you will once again be able to join the congregation in person, or if you would prefer, you’ll be able to watch the broadcast at a time that suits you.

How to take part Light Up A Life is for anyone who would like to remember a loved one at Christmas. You can be a part of this special event by attending the service or watching the broadcast and having a dedication to your loved one included in the Books of Remembrance. Look out for your invitation in the post, or if you have not taken part before, follow us on Facebook for details or call us on 01726 66868 option 3 to request an invitation.

We hope you can join us for this special evening of remembrance.

18 Cornwall Hospice Care

GAINS AND LOSSES For seven of the twelve months of the financial year our shops were closed. No trading meant no income, an extremely worrying position for Frazer Hopkins, the charity’s Head of Retail.

“In 2019/20 we were celebrating the news that our shop teams had helped raise a £1m contribution to our care.

We were jubilant. However, our joy was short-lived as we went from an extremely successful trading year to nothing almost overnight. Lock downs saw our shops open and close a number of times, staff were furloughed and our warehouses fell silent. It was an eerie and to be honest, terrifying time.

We had to stay positive and so we used the downtime to review our retail department, to consider how we might ask people to donate in the future and to start work on establishing our environmental credentials.

We spent time refurbishing some of our charity shops and prepared for the opening of our new furniture store in Moresk Road, Truro. We also opened our bigger Hayle shop where we introduced a new look that includes the names of the hospices that our shops are supporting. This is a look you’ll be seeing more of in the future. We continued to trade via our eBay site and did roaring business with our ever popular Christmas cards.

We devised our now well established donation centres, a system we’re continuing with as they take the pressure off our shops where storage space is extremely limited. You continued to arrive at our sites laden down with donated items, for which we are extremely grateful and now we can sort and prepare them for sale in suitable settings.

We’re also setting ourselves some environmental goals and you’ll hear more about this in the coming months. We’ve got a lot to do but it’s fair to say that with your help we already save hundreds of tons of preloved items from going to landfill! We’re using recycled materials for our Christmas cards and have banned the use of glitter; we recycle many of the items we can’t sell and reuse the carrier bags in which you bring items in to us. We reduced our carbon footprint by a third by limiting the number of van journeys we make.”

Our resilience and revival 19

OUR DONATION CENTRES

Our donation centres have proved very successful so they’re here to stay, but why? Frazer Hopkins answers some of your questions; Why are you sticking with the donation centres?

When we reviewed this new way of working we could see that some of the hoped for benefits and advantages to operating in this way were happening; a safe and improved donor experience, increased Gift Aid sign ups, reduced van mileage, better movement of saleable stock rather than items destined for recycling. We realised that we could capitalise on the benefits that we have found both financially and environmentally from operating in this new way, so we’ve made these changes permanent.

How well are the centres working?

The donation centres at St Austell, Bodmin and Truro currently generate sufficient stock to feed all of our retail outlets. We supplement this with smaller donation centres in Hayle, Penryn and Bude where they take a reduced quantity of items.

They’re often full by mid-morning but it allows people in areas that are further away from our main donation centres to have an opportunity to donate directly to us.

There’s a small donation outlet at our Hayle shop, but why don’t we open a bigger centre in the far West of Cornwall?

I appreciate that it can be quite challenging for people in the far West to get to the larger scale donation centres, but we need to be honest as to what is economical and suitable for us as a charity.

If we were to set up a new site to take donations in the far West of Cornwall it would probably cost us a six figure sum - we’d need to pay rent, business rates, utility bills, staff and the costs of vans to move the stock. The chances are we would struggle to recoup those costs, let alone make a profit. There’s also room to come up with new ideas. For instance, we know that in one town a woman contacted everyone in her street to say she was going to visit one of our donation centres and offering to take items for her neighbours. She arrived with a very full car, but she’d also helped some of her more elderly friends.

20 Cornwall Hospice Care

FIGHTING BACK TO THE FUTURE Our charity shops and donation centres are vital, without them we couldn’t fund the free of charge care we offer terminally ill patients. They are a key income stream and for that reason we have to keep them open. Fighting back is a delicate operation, but it is possible as Tracey Hawken, the Manager at our Bodmin shop, explains; “After the lock down, we were aware our shop couldn’t stay the same as customers and staff needed more space to not only move around but to feel safe. We couldn’t put as many items out as we encouraged people to look without touching and with social distancing. Not only did we change the look and feel of the shop floor, but we took this through to the back of house, where we looked at our processing. We made sure that volunteers could have enough room to work without being too close to each other. Some decided to retire, but others have come back saying the changes make them feel safe.

‘Less is more’ as our Area Manager Justine Cook says and it has certainly worked for us at Bodmin. The biggest change for us was not having the donations through the door which has meant we can all concentrate on selling, cleaning and delivering a better customer experience. My time is used in a much more positive way in which we can pre-price items and sort things out so we’re ready to go.

We get a bit of negativity from people who can’t donate in the shop but once we explain why most are understanding and on board with what we are trying to achieve, which is a safe working environment and a more practical business.

Personally, I feel like it has made such a huge difference not having to process the donated items as it feels like my time and energy is so much better spent.

At our Bodmin town shop we’re selling more, with great feedback and ensuring a safe shopping and work environment.“

Our resilience and revival 21

GIVING THE GIFT OF TIME

Our volunteers are at the heart of our charity but the pandemic was as tough for them as for everyone else. Lockdown led to many having to stay at home and when our shops shut our retail volunteers were stood down. Our team were desperate to help, it’s why they give us the gift of time, but in many cases it just wasn’t possible.

Some were able to continue providing support on our front line, assisting on the wards and running the receptions at both hospices and members of our volunteer fundraising groups came up with new ideas, for instance Jill Hannett of the Roseland Fundraising Group made £730 from the sale of her homemade masks in her community and Caroline Mercer of the St Just Fundraising Group raised £500 for us with her mask sales. Our Fundraising Groups Coordinator Angela Flamank is full of admiration; “Our fundraising group members were amazing. With events not being able to take place and stringent rules for mixing with others, they still raised a phenomenal £50,000 in 2020/21.”

Jenny Wilkins, our Volunteer Services Coordinator, confirms it was a tough year for volunteers but that many are now re-emerging; “It’s lovely to see our volunteers return to our hospices and to our shops and to be able to present many of them with long-service awards. Those in our shops are now busy helping us rebuild this vital source of income. They all understand how important our stores are. We’ve also acknowledged one of our younger volunteers with the first of our newly launched Dalton White Young Volunteers Awards that went to 16-year-old Emily Rowe who helps at our St Austell town centre shop. At the hospices where Covid restrictions are still in place, the return of volunteers will be a more gradual process.”

Find out more about volunteering and apply online Volunteer | Cornwall Hospice Care

22 Cornwall Hospice Care

LOVING OUR LOTTERY

When you play the Cornwall Hospice Care lottery, you’re helping people to receive the vital services that Cornwall Hospice Care provides. The costs of funding these services is high and the funding is low.

Our weekly lottery and biannual raffles are vital to our charity helping to fund our work providing care free of charge to thousands of patients and families in our Cornish community.

How are our lottery proceeds are spent?

In the last financial year we raised £678,021 through ticket sales in our weekly lotteries and biannual raffles.

3% (£17,745) was spent on sales and marketing including recruiting new players 7% (£84,000) went into the prize fund 14% (£93,738) was spent on covering our running and administrative costs

71% (£482,483) was donated to Cornwall Hospice Care How can I take part?

You can join our weekly lottery and give yourself a chance to win £1,000 every Friday, a rollover that could be as much as £10,000 and other prizes. It’s just £1 a week, that’s £4.34 a month and you’ll know you’re helping to make a difference. If you don’t want to commit to a monthly direct debit you can buy weekly tickets in our shops and take part in our biannual raffles.

The raffles are super easy to take part in; we mail out your 20 reserved numbers (these are yours, no one else will be allocated them even if you don’t buy them). Just tick the numbers you want and either pay on-line via our secure website or send in your entry with a cheque. We won’t ask you to sell them to your friends or fill in endless ticket stubs. Buy all 20 numbers and you’ll have funded an hour of nursing time! Our Summer Raffle 2021 funded 1,816 hours of nursing care.

Add your name and address to our next lottery mailing Lottery | Cornwall Hospice Care

Our resilience and revival 23

Just £1 a week!

N I W IZE DRAW

R P 0 5 Y £ L , K WEE 0, £200* in £5 0 w 0 , 1 £ es to nc a h c 0 ze 5 i r s P u l r P ve o l l o !

R 0 r 0 u 0 , 0 *O 1 £ £200

Lucky summer raffle winner Lillian Allen

was delighted to hear sheʼd won £2,000 and shared why she plays both our weekly lottery and our raffles; “I play as I think the hospice is a very important asset to all of us and we have known people who, unfortunately, have had to use your wonderful services. So, itʼs my way of helping and saying thank you.”

Please gamble aware 0808 8020133

16+