This is what we do 21/22

This

Emerging from the pandemic

The last financial year wasn’t easy! Covid 19 was still impacting all our lives, but the time came when we saw the gradual emergence from the rigours of this miserable pandemic. Now we ’ re building on the resilience our teams showed, and are looking to a brighter future as David Renwick, our volunteer Chair of Trustees, explains;

“As I look back over the last two years my overriding thought is for our hard working teams who’ve shown enormous determination and commitment. Despite a pandemic that disrupted everyone and everything, our staff and volunteers have battled on. Our hospices have remained open, our shop teams got back to trading and we started to see our fundraisers running face to face events again. I salute them all.

Now we ’ re regrouping and re-establishing our charity. We’re emerging stronger and more determined than ever to provide the right care at the right time and in the right place for our patients and their families and to find ways of funding what we do as one of Cornwall’s key charities.

The pandemic hasn’t stopped us, but encouraged us to develop new ideas and we emerge stronger, adept and ready to continue and develop our important work supporting those who need us so they can live life until they die.”

David Renwick

Emerging from the pandemic

Paul Brinsley

Paul Brinsley, our Chief Executive, adds;

“Our resilience and adaptability have continued to be key to our success and now we ’ re working on vital collaborations with the new Integrated Care Board and other partner organisations. You’ll read in this report of a learning agreement we ’ ve signed with the Royal College of Nursing, a superb example of how orking together will benefit the wider care mmunity in our county. In fact, our work in ising the standards of care by supporting our nical colleagues, is growing and I’m very oud of this. That pride also extends to all other partments in our charity. Every member of our e team has joined the collective battle to rvive the pandemic and together we ’ ve achieved this. Evolution is a continuous project and as we emerge from the dark Covid-19 days, we ’ re looking to the future and our priorities. Work has begun on our next five year strategy that will cover the period from 2023 to 2028. We’re engaging with our staff and volunteers to map the way forward for our hospices, community services and wider charity. Please enjoy reading about the extraordinary work of all the departments that make Cornwall Hospice Care tick and thank you for your extremely valuable support. We couldn’t do what we do without your help and we ’ re going to need you more than ever as we continue to care through the current economic slump.”

Liz and Luca

It’s the special things that make a difference and that’s where our nursing and therapy teams come in. It can be a wedding for a patient, a birthday party, a last trip to the theatre or a visit from a much-loved pet. At St Julia’s Hospice the whole team enjoyed the arrival of Luca, a horse whose owner was close to dying.

“Even when she became ill, Liz would walk to sit with Luca because she thought her horse might be lonely.” says friend and former Landlady Rowena. "She would walk the one mile round trip twice a day and in flip flops because she found them the most comfortable footwear. When she became too poorly to walk, she would get a taxi to see Luca.”

Liz was well known in the village of Ashton, a familiar face to many people who would see her walking up and down the main road in all weathers. She loved talking about her passion for horses and was a popular character. “Liz was a bit of an enigma” says Rowena, “she wouldn’t talk about personal stuff, she was a very private person, but she had her opinions! People would ask after her if they hadn’t seen her, even the taxi driver would check if he hadn’t transported her for a while.”

Liz and Luca

Liz, who’d fought cancer twice befo also rescued Greyhounds and was delighted when Luca was able to visit her in her final days at St Julia’s Hospice, a wish granted, like so many others, by the hard work of our teams.

Marie Brooks is the Bereavement Counsellor at St Julia’s; “The visit was exciting for everyone but especially for Liz whose final wish it was to see her horse. These are the special moments beyond the clinic care, that make such a difference but people don’t always see. ” Instrumental in organising Luca’s vis Cinnamon Trust, a Hayle based national charity that supports the elderly and terminally ill with their pets. Luca is now cared for by Ged, one of their team and they report “Luca is doing really well and Ged has been taking him out every day getting him used to his surroundings and to traffic. She has now sta and has bought a cart with the intention of and in really slow time getting him trained t pull it. He is loving life and his new field shelter and is a really sweet kind boy. Ged loves him to bits!”

Thanks also goes to Les and Lindsay of L & L Transport in Redruth who transported Luca to and from the hospice so Liz could see and touch her horse for one last time.

LizandLuca at St Julia'sHospice

Our charity is best known for our two adult hospices, St Julia’s in Hayle and Mount Edgcumbe in St Austell. Here our clinical teams offer care for people from the age of 18 who are approaching the end of their lives. That support extends to the patient’s family, carers and fri d b t there’s so much more to the care we offer C as Gina Starnes, our Director of Clinical Se and Ally Hardman our Specialist Nursing Lead explain;

“Our hospices aren’t necessarily one-way streets; people don’t always come in to die” says Ally. “We’re here to support patients through their journey, making sure they live to their full potential until they die. We offer symptom control, rehabilitation, equipment and therapy to ensure people make the most of the time they’ve got. It’s valuable time when they can reach their individual life goals and make precious memories.”

Gina continues; “As well as our nurses and doct h highly qualified therapy teams with Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists who offer a range of help; they’re involved with symptom management, providing techniques to cope with breathlessness, pain control, nausea, relaxation and movement. They can spend time treating a person to a hand or foot massage and they’re also key to preparing a patient for discharge, visiting homes to ensure equipment is available an that family members and friends are prepared to continue with the care. The therapists will also go through difficult conversations, helping patients an those close to them, to prepare for the reality of a to cope with a loved one who’s confined to bed or a wheelchair and they’ll talk to patients about advance care planning, ensuring the person has been able to express what they want.”

Ally Hardman

How we care for Cornwall

Gina Starnes

How we care for Cornwall

“Our therapy team can make things happen” adds Ally. “If a patient wants to go to the beach or the theatre for instance, they’ll do everything they can to organise the trip. You’ll read about a patient’s wish to see her horse in this report. It might be that a patient wants to complet jigsaw or make a memory box. The therapy team will do all they can to help.”

Gina continues; “Working with the therapists are our Community Services team who offer listening and outreach services to those who do go home. They also provide pre and post bereavement support through our Listening Ear service, Walk Talk Kernow, Neighbourhood Hub and an online Useful Links Directory.”

“Siobhan Aris our Advanced Nurse Practitioner supports patients both in our hospices as well as the community. An Advanced Nurse Practitioner can assess and examine patients, determine an appropriate treatment plan and prescribe. Siobhan visits patients both at home and in other care settings to support assessment in determining if a hospice admission would be of benefit or if the hospice can work in collaboration with Community Services to enable patients to remain at home as per their wishes, while also supporting their families.”

Ally Hardman again: “Siobhan is a bridge if you like, between medicine and nursing and as if that wasn’t enough, she also provides teaching support both internally and externally. She’s ensuring we ’ re there for people with a range of terminal illnesses, not just cancer. ”

Gina concludes: “When we ’ re aware of a patient with complex needs, our nurses will go and meet them, usually at the hospital, to assess them and to introduce themselves. Twice a week there’s a meeting of our staff and those who work in the community and in the hospital, to make sure conversations are ongoing around people who may need our care. The calls provide a platform to exchange knowledge and to share skills.

It's a team effort but the ultimate goal is to help people live their life to the best of their ability until they die, giving them valuable time to prepare, to be with those they love and to make memories.”

Siobhan Aris

Introducing our cuddle beds

There’s nothing quite like a hug and thanks to technology we now have special beds that allow families to climb in together for a cuddle. At first glance they look like any other single patient bed, but the design allows for them to be extended from the side to make more room.

“They’re brilliant pieces of equipment.” says Lou Ranford, Ward Sister at St Julia’s Hospice. “Our patients can share with a loved one to read, watch TV or just be together. We can then bring the bed back to its single form when we need to attend to the patient’s care. My fondest memory is of looking through the doorway of a patient’s room and seeing them with their partner and child on the bed laughing and joking.”

The purchase of the cuddle beds was made possible with the generous support of a number of Trust Funders. Paul Jones, Major Gifts Manager, says; “We’d like to thank all the Trust Funds who helped to buy the new cuddle beds that are now at both of our hospices. We’re grateful that they understood the need for these beds that are proving very popular with our patients and their loved ones. ”

Caring for our community

We’re here for the Cornish community and that means supporting people beyond the wards in our hospices. Our Community Services team continue to develop practical help with a focus on providing carers and to those who’ve been bereaved. Cla Community Engagement Officer, outlines some of the activities the team now offer;

The Listening Ear Service is for anyone in our community feeling isolated and vulnerable and who’s recently been bereaved. Clients to the service can have six one hour support calls with a trained member of the team plus an assessment call at the start. Although not a counselling service, the team offer information, s and sign posting. People can self-refer, although referrals come from Social Prescribers and GPs. has increased so much that there is now a volun more coming on board. During the 2021/22 period 75 referrals were received with 347 calls being conducted.

Clare Bray

“I would still like a call as I can’t talk about it to anyone else, people get embarrassed and want to change the topic. It’s nice to talk about her.”

“Thanks for being there…..I don’t think I would have been here if it wasn’t for you. ”

Our Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists offer support, practical advice, information and treatment for people living with a terminal illness or a deteriorating progressive disease within our Neighbourhood Hub service. This has largely been delivered over the phone; however, home visits are beginning again, which has seen an increase in referrals over recent months and in the future we will be doing more face-to-face appointments in the community.

Caring for our community

During the last financial year 40 new referrals were received, including 26 patients and 14 carers with a combined 131 appointments. We now also offer emotional support to carers, delivered over the phone. A relatively new service, Walk Talk Kernow offers adults who’ve been bereaved to come on a gentle walk with others in a similar situation, providing a safe space for conversations and to make social connections. In future the aim is to have more walks operating across Cornwall offering people choice and accessibility to the service.

Another new service launching this Autumn are Bereavement Help Points that offer a safe space for bereaved adults to come and talk, share experiences, receive peer support and make social connections. This model is already being successfully delivered by four other hospices across the country and depending on the success of the first help point, it’s hoped to roll them out to other areas of Cornwall in time.

Our Useful Links Directory is an online resource providing contact details for local and national organisations. With easy to navigate headings, the directory covers a range of topics including cancer, mental health, planning for end of life, bereavement and general health.

The Virtual Community Friendship Café is on Facebook and is there for anyone feeling socially isolated, for carers and those coping with a long term illness or bereavement and currently has 163 members (July 2022). With new posts each day, it offers the latest information about wellbeing activities, bereavement support and events.

What Matters? is an e newsletter aimed at those approaching or planning for end of life in Cornwall. This twice yearly newsletter is distributed to health professionals including GPs, Social Prescribers, nursing homes and funeral directors who can them share it with patients and clients.

Our latest project aims to offer tangible items to patients being discharged from Mount Edgcumbe Hospice and St Julia’s Hospice. They’ll be receiving a Welcome Home Box. These are designed for people to be able to make a hot drink and a snack when they get home and will contain tinned soup, crackers, sweet biscuits, tea, coffee, long life milk and sugar. The boxes will also have an item to keep such as a knitted blanket, lavender pillow or glass heart and a welcome home card designed by local school children.

Sharing our knowledge

Our Education team have had an exceptionally busy and exciting 12 months with a key focus on training, development and collaborative working. Our training for both internal and external staff has increased resulting in support for 1,186 people, with 538 b i external attendees. Jo Smith, our Education and Training Lead, explains what we ' ve been doing;

"We’ve recently been working closely with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and are pleased to announce we ’ ve signed a national learning agreement with them, the second of its kind for the South West region. We’ve entered into this learning agreement with pass and enthusiasm and are looking forward to exploring different ways of supporting people on their learning and development journey. Chris Starnes (Education Facilitator) is our Lead Learning Link for this exciting partnership. Derek Ginn (Education Facilitator) and Siobhan Aris (Advanced Nurse Practitioner) have developed and are co-delivering a 6 month palliative care education programme. This is going to be submitted to the RCN accreditation process with the aim of getting it accredited as part of our learning agreement.

This May we worked in partnership with our NHS colleagues to host a successful virtual Dying Matters Education and Information event that saw attendees from across the county. Seven one hour education sessions were delivered throughout the day covering a variety of topics and I’m delighted to say 140 people registered with around 50 to 60 people at most sessions.

We also supported a collaborative virtual education event to continue raising the profile of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly End of Life Learning Path, with 106 participants mainly from care homes. The feedback was excellent. We have since taken steps to jointly set up a countywide End of Life Learning Path champion network.

Jo Smith

Lucy Muchina, Regional Director of the RCN in the South West and Chris Starnes, RCN Learning Representative at Cornwall Hospice Care

in Palliative and End of Life Care, Care of the Last Days of Life, Symptom Management, Spirituality, Syringe Driver Use and Verification of Death on our regular calendar of events. Our Education Coordinator Catherine and Jo our Education Administrator oversee all booking processes for both internal and external staff. They’ve been working hard embedding robust systems in support of the development of the Education team.

We support the delivery of Palliative and End of Life education for the nurse associate apprenticeship for both year 1 and year 2 on behalf of Truro College.

I continue to chair the Cornwall End of Life Education Group, supporting partnership working with the development of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly End of Life Education Strategy, with the first collaborative draft produced and ready for consultation. The strategy will help to ensure that education is accessible to all staff, in any location and any care setting where End of Life care is delivered.

Education Facilitators Naomi, Claire and Sue have made fantastic progress in developing face-to-face clinical skills training and continue to support the clinical teams with a wide range of training and development in support of high quality patient care and best practice.

Lesley (Complementary Therapies Education Facilitator) has developed a foot and hand massage course for staff. This 6 month course has received positive feedback and as staff are achieving competency sign off we are seeing an increase in offers of these treatments for our patients."

"We found the team of Nurses, Carers, Doctors, Junior doctors, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Chef, Kitchen staff, Cleaning staff, Reception staff and Admin staff so very caring, professional and of great comfort. They are all doing an amazing job and I will have no concerns should I have to be admitted again. "

"It gave mum great comfort to know she was in your care until the end. Dad and I could focus on mum rather than her physical care. Ensuring that our dog could visit mum meant a great deal to us. "

"Thank you to everyone at the hospice who looked after me. Also thank you for helping with my wedding."

"You are an excellent and unique team and I can sincerely say I will miss you all. I really wanted to thank you all for your help during my rehabilitation. I can just about walk without any aids and am still improving thanks in no small part to the care provided by everyone at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice. Best wishes to you all, without you I doubt I would have survived."

"The family were very pleased that he was able to have his 2 small dogs brought in every day as they were as big part of his life, and the nurses who kept us informed of everything that was happening, also the refreshments that were given to the family."

"Thanks to the counsellor who spent an hour of her time with me giving me professional help which I really, really needed, it helped me get through the last very tough days. "

"Thank you for everything and for my painted green toenails!"

"You may have heard what wonderful places hospices are. Words cannot express the eternal gratitude I have for every single super wonderful person who works at Mount Edgcumbe. My husband was so happy there which meant that we were too. The care, the love, the support, the laughter, the friendship and of course the amazing food – made those last weeks truly incredible."

"I cannot thank you all enough for the cwonderful are given to me during my recent stay – it awas mazing and made it all very enjoyable."

"We would just like to say thank you for your care and compassion whilst my husband was staying with you. You helped to make his last hours more bearable and allowed us to have that last time with him without the worry of him being in pain. Thank you. "

"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the loving care given to my dear sister, her children and myself when she was with you. To know that she had all the care and support needed before she died means so much to myself and the remaining family members, both young and old. Without the dedication and love shown to the people in your care, families would have a hopeless and helpless situation to face alone when the end comes."

"We were with our friend for over a week, staying overnight too for several nights. Our needs were considered as well as his. Plenty of tea and biscuits. All staff were exemplary, always had time for a chat. Everyone was always so kind during this very difficult and emotional time. "

Tough days but rewarding ones

It takes special people to make our hospices the caring places they are. Nurses, doctors, housekeepers, administrators and chefs all work together for the benefit of our patients and their families. Some go even further, fundraising for our charity. Dr Angela Netherwood took part in our ha marathon Run Falmouth, our Coast and Clay Sportive and she’s also taking on the London Marathon. In this special feature we find out more about her;

As a doctor, what drew you to hospice care in particular?

I first encountered hospice work when I was training to be a GP. One of my posts was at Sobell House Hospice in Oxford and I immediately felt a connection to this area of work. As a doctor I was able to use pharmacology medical and surgical knowledge, as well as practical and consultation skills to work alongside a specialist multidisciplinary team to make a real difference to patients' lives. Later, as a GP I enjoyed working close with the community palliative care nurses to offer the b possible care to my patients in their homes.

DrAngela Netherwood

Soon after my move to Cornwall, Covid 19 and lockdown took hold. I realised that most of my work as a GP would be on the phone and with increasing time pressures. When I saw the opportunity to work as a specialty doctor with Cornwall Hospice Care I jumped at the chance. I was attracted to a role where I could see my patients face to face, spending time and forming relationships with them and the team around me.

Coastand ClaySportive

At first glance it might seem like a tough job, helping people live until the moment they die, so what's so special about this particular field of care?

I think you ' ve hit the nail on the head we ’ re helping our patients to live until they die. We’re sharing some of the most precious times in the lives of our patients and their families, which is such a privilege. One patient told me this morning 'I'm really comfy, and all the bad dreams have stopped. It's just wonderful.' That makes this field of care really special and you ' re right - it is tough!

What does a day at work look like for you?

I usually arrive at about 8:30am to prepare for our morning hand-over. We have a online meeting with both hospices and the consultant of the day; catching up on how many patients we have at each site, bed availability for any new patients, and to check on staff numbers. Following this we leave the screen and have a more detailed hand-over with the team at St Julia’s where I’m based, (a similar one happens at Mount Edgcumbe.) The nursing team pass on important updates from the night shift and as a team we consider the priorities of the day for each patient.

Afternoons are varied and include spending time with families, having longer conversations with patients, teaching students, taking part in continuing professional development and occasionally attending meetings. Admitting new patients to the unit is an important part of the day, either supporting colleagues as they undertake this work or spending time myself assessing a patient and starting to work out how we can help them. How important are the team of staff and volunteers around you? They’re vital! Everyone matters at the hospice and everyone has a role to play in looking after our patients. I particularly like the way our chefs spend time with each patient, understanding what they’re able to eat or drink and how they can help make each day as good as it can be. When I was working late one day, one of the volunteers came up to my desk with a piece of cake and just placed it next to me with a smile. That's when you know you ' re working as part of a family.

You work for a charity so why do you feel it important to also fundraise for Cornwall Hospice Care?

Seeing first hand the difference we make to the lives of our patients and their families makes me even more determined that we have the funding we need to keep our beds open. When I speak to a GP looking after a patient in the community who could really benefit from a stay with us, I want to be able to say ' yes, we have a bed available for them.' What's your goal in terms of the work you do?

I often ask my patients 'what really matters to you today?' I try to find out what my patient's goals are and make them my own.

Angela Netherwood is fundraising for Cornwall Hospice Care visit www.justgiving.com

Funding our care

2021/22 was a good year in terms of finances and it’s put our charity in a strong position as the country faces a cost of living crisis. However, as Graham Clarke, our Finance Director confirms, it’s positive news but we can’t take our income generation for granted.

The last financial year saw us add £1.1million to our reserves after four years of deficit results and that was thanks to a great performance from all our income generation activities. We strictly controlled our spending and we worked hard. The big success story was in our retail department where they raised over a million pounds of profit that all goes to funding the care we provide to the people of Cornwall.

The contribution to our care from all collective retail and fundraising activities

£2.1 million.

Legacy income can never be predicted but this was a very good year

£3.7 million.

Our NHS contract amounted to representing just 17.3% of the £6.2million we need to raise to keep our hospices open and our services available. Our investments made us £0.1 million. We received Covid 19 grants of £0.2 million. Our Education services raised us £0.2 million.

£1.1 million 17.3%

The last few years have been extremely tough and when the pandemic started we didn’t know how we were going to fund the work of our Cornish charity. What’s been extraordinary is the support of our community who’ve continued to shop with us, donate goods, take part in fundraising activities and support our lottery.

We can’t say a big enough thank you.

Now we must try and prepare for the worse of the cost of living crisis, ensuring we find ways of securing the income we need so we are always here for those who need us.

Fabulous fundraising

The year that first billed itself as our recovery from Covid-19, soon became the battle to keep the wind in our sails; this is how you made a difference:

Your donations and those gifts in memory of loved ones continued to humble us and remained the largest area of support for our charity, raising over £500k, an extraordinary sum. Trusts and grant givers supported our care with a bumper year of support too.

We had a welcome return to events with our triumphant delivery of the Coast and Clay Sportive, the return of a live London Marathon, and we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our Run Falmouth Half Marathon, collectively welcoming more than 1,000 supporters. We even reimagined our Santa Series, which included a festive treat of skydiving Santas!

Throughout Covid-19 we needed to adapt, and quickly, to changing surroundings and our Light Up A Life remembrance service is our best example of this, delivered in December 2021as a hybrid event with Truro Cathedral. It wasn’t all plain sailing however, as some events outside of our charity’s management were cancelled and community events restarted slowly, nervous from the impact of restrictions. Support from gifts in Wills remained extraordinarily high contributing £3.7 million to our care and we remain indebted to those who support us in this most generous way.

The year in front of us offers a less stable world than we had hoped for, but we remain determined to fund our care. To everyone who has fundraised for us, we thank you. The kindness we have received from our supporters and donors remains the reason we are able to fund our care.

I’ll leave you with some words from Linda and Mandy who organised and achieved 'Challenge 12' for us:

“Anne-Marie, best friend and daughter, was fortunate to spend her last days in the care of the wonderful team at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice. From the moment she arrived they took charge of everything, meaning we could spend precious hours with her without the worry of her medical and personal care. Anne Marie was treated like royalty! This is why Challenge 12 has kept us busy for over 2 years!

Training began in October 2020 so that we would be fit enough to do the Ben Nevis climb. Then Covid 19 hit and plans were delayed but training kept going and was our saviour during lockdown. In May 2021 we got to complete our first challenge, walking The Smugglers Way. This was no easy task as we hadn’t banked on the harsh effects of Covid jabs but the walk was a success and donations and kind words of support came rolling in.

Each month brought new challenges, from great hikes, mountain climbs and wild camps to the Eden SkyWire, tandem cycling The Tinners' Trail (52 miles of bum numbing pain), tattoos, craft fairs, Bodmin Moor 21 Tors (knicker wetting bogs, a farmer with a gun and rusty barbed wire nearly beat us) and finally, we made Ben Nevis, by far the toughest challenge of all!

The last 12 months has been really, really hard at times but the support from friends, family and total strangers has kept us going. The whole process has been one of healing for us too and it is very gratifying to know that Cornwall Hospice Care can continue their fantastic work to help others because of the generous donations we collected for Challenge 12.

Thank you Linda and Mandy!

Three cheers for our charity shops

We now boast Cornwall’s biggest chain of charity shops and they’ve just contributed more than a million pounds to the care we provide. The profit was made over the last financial year by our then 25 stores that stretch from Bude to Penzance. It’s only the second time in our charity’s 42-year history that the contribution has tipped the million pound mark.

Our Finance Director Graham Clarke; "It’s a remarkable result and it’s thanks to our donors and shoppers and our staff and volunteers who all deserve a huge thank you. During the last financial year, more than 45,000 cars delivered donated goods to our Donation Centres and we sold 970,000 individual items of donated stock. We’re very aware that a lot of that could have ended up in land fill if we hadn’t been there to collect it in, sort it and sell it on. ”

The news of the £1,017,230 contribution prompted Lou Ranford, the Ward Sister at St Julia’s Hospice in Hayle to say; “This extraordinary figure proves that donating to and shopping with our charity really does help make a difference. Without this profit that helps fund the work we do we couldn’t help people make the most of their life before they die.”

Town Centre Moves

We’ve long been a part of the retail community in both Falmouth and Penryn but recently we ’ ve had a bit of a change round. First to make a move was our very popular Falmouth shop that has relocated along the main street to bigger premises in Market Street. We then found the building housing our Retro store in Penryn was being sold and that led to us relocating it to our former Falmouth shop on Church Street.

“The new Retro shop looks amazing!” says Frazer Hopkins, Head of Retail. “Our maintenance team worked hard to refit the shop with a fun new style and on a very tight deadline. We’re happy to report that the new shop is a proving to be very popular. It’s styled differently to the rest of our shops and sells vintage and retro clothes and bric a brac, along with a few smaller items of furniture. Sales are exceeding all our expectations so big congratulations to the whole team.” Our Penryn Furniture store is remaining in Penryn.

After more than a year without a shop in Newquay, we opened a store in Bank Street last April. Manager, Rob Bosisto is delighted that we ’ re back in the community; “This is such a busy town and we ’ ve always enjoyed being a part of it. We’ve built up our customer numbers and now it feels like we were never away. ” The store offers pre-loved clothing, books, bric-a-brac, games and toys. In the same month we also opened a huge new furniture shop in Truro. The outlet in the former Volvo Garage on Moresk Road also offers a donation point for people wanting to support the charity with preloved items. Frazer Hopkins again; “It’s a big step for us. We know Truro is a good place to be, having had a very successful furniture store in Pydar Street, but we had to move as the building was being demolished. The good news is that the store has proved very successful and means that along with the shop we have in St Nicholas Street we ’ re now a central part of the city’s retail community.”

In St Austell we ’ ve moved to the town’s White River Place having been in the main street for 11 years. The new site provides more space and ground floor working for the staff and volunteers. Tracey Preston is the shop manager; “Our store is one of our busiest and we ’ re delighted to have moved. The shop carries the name of Mount Edgcumbe Hospice to strengthen the local links between the care we provide at our nearby hospice and the local customers who fund it.”

The value of our volunteers

Volunteers are at the heart of everything we do at Cornwall Hospice Care. They’re on our wards, in our shops and busy raising funds for us. They’re a compassionate army of people who give the gift of time and we’d be lost without them.

“Our volunteers are the best” says Finance Director Graham Clarke. “I’ve had the pleasure of presenting some with their long service badges and I’m always humbled by their commitment and enthusiasm. Nearly 500 of our volunteers work in our shops saving us thousands in wage bills, money that can instead go towards funding the care we provide. Around 80 people volunteer in our hospices, on the wards and on reception. When people arrive at Mount Edgcumbe or St Julia’s it’s most usually a volunteer who will greet them.”

"My family and myself would like to thank all the staff and volunteers for the care and kindness you gave to my wife and the help you gave me at a difficult time."

Family feedback 2021

THEY’RE A TCOMPASSIONATE HEY’RE A COMPASSIONATE ARMY OF PEOPLE WHO AGIVE RMY OF PEOPLE WHO GIVE THE GIFT OF TIME AND TWE’D HE GIFT OF TIME AND WE’D BE LOST WITHOUT BTHEM. E LOST WITHOUT THEM.

A celebration of 270 years

A very special event took place on the 6th October 2021, the 41st birthday of Mount Edgcumbe Hospice, the first of its kind in Cornwall. A group of six people who’ve collectively supported Cornwall Hospice Care for nearly 270 years were honoured at a special tea.

The event was hosted at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice in St Austell by Chief Executive Paul Brinsley who welcomed the volunteers, all of whom started supporting the hospice before it was built. He said at the time; “It’s an honour to welcome you and I’m simply amazed at your dedicated service. The pandemic put paid to all our planned 40th anniversary events so it’s lovely to be able to welcome you all at last to say a heartfelt thank you. You’ve been a part of our story throughout and there just aren’t the words to express how extraordinary you ’ ve all been.”

Every Friday someone gets a phone call and hears a voice say “Hello I’m phoning from the Cornwall Hospice Care Lottery. Our weekly lottery draw has taken place and you ’ ve won our top prize of £1,000!” Just imagine that. The Head of Good News is our Lottery Manager Sarah Vincent;

"How lucky are we to make these weekly calls bringing such good news? Last year our treasured lottery players raised £408,709 all of which went to funding the care our nurses provide at our two precious hospices. Every player really does make a difference and knows that the money they help raise stays right here in Cornwall helping our local communities.

Over 10,000 people take part in our weekly draw and we say the more the merrier so we continue to spread the word. Each pays £1 a week per entry and every £1 raised from the lottery goes towards helping fund the care at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice in St Austell and St Julia’s Hospice in Hayle.

This care is given free of charge to our patients, their families and carers and we just couldn’t do this without our lottery lovers, so I’d like to say a massive Thank You to all those taking part and invite everyone to join in. It’s a win win situation as our weekly prizes are chosen at random and then posted out to winners automatically.

You can sign up and receive your winnings from the comfort of your own home how easy is that? Visit our website www.cornwallhospicecare.co.uk and you could win one of 53 cash prizes every week.

Watch out for our bi annual raffles too. Our Christmas raffle in 2021 raised a magnificent £46,403 and this year ’ s Summer Draw secured a superb £31,523 to help fund the care we offer."

Winning smiles

“What a wonderful surprise to hear I had won 1st prize of £1,000 on the Hospice lottery! The hospice were so caring for my brother in law and friends of mine who are sadly no longer with us. The job they do is amazing and I hope my support through the lottery is a small gesture of the gratitude we owe to them all. Thank you. ” Angela, St Austell

“My name is Malcolm and I live in Duporth and have won £1,000. I play the lottery to support an essential service that will be there when and if I need it. When I won it was a great surprise and made me smile.” Malcolm, Duporth

“Good morning, this is Angus from Redruth who was the winner of £1,000 on the Cornwall Hospice Care lottery this morning. Angus is excited and is going to be claiming his winnings this afternoon! This has made his day and is lovely to see him so happy. Thank you. ” Kayleigh (on behalf of Angus), Redruth

“I play the Cornwall Hospice Care lottery as it's just one small way that I can give back for all the tremendous support and kindness given to my late Dad, Ken Dale and our family in 2021 and to help ensure others can benefit from this invaluable resource during their time of need now and in the future here in Cornwall.” Sarah, St Stephen