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Welcome / Contents

Welcome to our Winter newsletter.

We really hope that 2022 signals a brighter year for everyone and a chance to get back to doing all the things we have missed that bring us much joy and happiness.

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Yet again, we are humbled by the variety of activities that have taken place over the last few months and your support of the Hospice. Our newsletter is only the tip of the iceberg, but rest assured we value every single act of kindness you undertake for Forest Holme.

The turn of the year sees us give a warm welcome to new Trustees Lynn Cherrett and Charlotte Lilley and we extend our thanks to both Stuart Bradford and Dr. Stephen Kirkham as they retire from their time on the Board. Volunteers are integral to all of the work that we do and our Board of Trustees is no different. We simply cannot do what we do without them. On behalf of all the teams at Forest Holme, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Stephen for his vast contribution to the life-enhancing work of the Hospice, first as a clinician and then latterly as our Chair of Trustees. If Stephen had a mantra, it would be ‘first, establish the problem’. His many years in palliative medicine have shown him, and he in turn enabling others, how to do just that. During his career he has been presented with a plethora of challenging physical, emotional, spiritual and practical concerns from the patients under his care. He is a master of getting to the root of the problem - often quickly when time is of the essence.

He always was, and still is, the patient’s advocate. This is as true today as he comes to the end of his role as Chair of the Trustees at the Charity as it was to his whole career in palliative medicine. His logical thinking, creative problem solving and considered judgement, often delivered with self-deprecating humour, is greatly appreciated by both his colleagues on the Charity’s Board and the staff.

He is held in extremely high regard by the Charity’s supporters, many of whom have had experience of his care during his 20 years as Lead Consultant at Forest Holme, and to his credit he will still be able to remember their name, the name of their loved one who has passed away and undoubtedly some fact about them even after all this time. His many people skills

and his attention to detail is second to none in making this happen.

As Chair, he routinely demonstrated the skill of communicating sometimes complex information, simply and effectively to a variety of audiences. It is this clarity of thought and vision which has enabled him to help shape the future direction of Forest Holme Hospice Charity to meet the ever-growing demand on palliative and end-of-life care services within Dorset.

Stephen is very passionate about delivering world class palliative and end-of-life care and its role within the NHS. He believes excellence of care, parity of service and cost-effectiveness can be achieved through NHS/Third Sector collaborations. He has always championed this model of care to help address some of the areas of inequality of service provision and the ability to have greater impact for more people within Dorset and wider afield.

We are thrilled to say he will continue to support the Charity’s work in any way he can and that’s why this is more of an ‘Au Revoir’ than a ‘Goodbye’. It has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside you during the last nine years and for all the patience and faith you have shown during this time. Thank you.

With best wishes,

Contents

2. Welcome / Contents 4. In Memory 5. Pop-In Group 8 Charity Update 10. Golf Day 11. Hospice News 14. Fundraising For Forest Holme

16. Farewell to Forest Holme

18. New Trustee From Coles Miller

20. Mother’s Day 22. Challenges 2022 23. Charity Abseil 24. Meet The Complementary Therapist 27. Mailing List

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