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Dr Richard Latten’s London Marathon raises over £4,000
Wirral Hospice St John’s bereavement support coordinator, Stella Neophytou, explains,
It really is true that time is a great healer. People won’t want to hear that immediately after a new loss.
Most people, often supported by family and friends, see a way through and learn to live with, and cherish, fond memories of a loved one. However it is not always, if ever, that easy. There are times during the process when people definitely need a little help to get back on track. Our job in bereavement support is to help people remember that they are naturally equipped to come through. People sometimes call it resilience building but I like to think of our support as resilience refreshing.
We also appreciate how the passing of a loved one affects children and young people. We’re now building our expertise in approaches to supporting younger people through our patient and family support team, informed by our experienced children and young person’s worker, Annmarie Robertswood, who says,
We recommend various books on the subject of bereavement support. If there is one you might like to purchase for the hospice you can find them via links at our Amazon Wishlist. www.wirralhospice.org/ amazonwishlist Children and younger people can have their whole world rocked by the loss of a loved one. We aim to give them time to ask questions, to grieve and to be listened to. It’s important to be clear and honest with information that is age-appropriate and also to ensure that young people have responsible adults to be there for them.
Home Hospice at
Being there for the care and comfort of patients who are living at home with life-limiting illnesses, most often when such illness is in its most advance stages, is the vocation of our Hospice at Home team.
Working with the patient and their family members a schedule will be agreed with a registered nurse at the hospice. Depending on each individual’s needs, they will be kept safe during a morning and/or an afternoon and/or a night ‘sit’ with a Hospice at Home health care assistant (HCA). The sits offer family members a little respite to do everyday things, like going out for a couple of hours just to relax, or for some shopping or maybe to meet other relatives and friends. Comforting can sometimes mean holding hands, other times having a chat and a laugh, or cry, and often being an ear for people’s life stories, their memories and their wishes. The Hospice at Home HCAs offer a completely personalised service which is complementary to a patient’s whole package of care. Like all hospice services people are referred by various healthcare professionals, like community nurses, hospital discharge teams, GPs, or Macmillan nurses. The service also co-ordinates night sits jointly provided by Marie Curie. So it is, that at 7.30am, on any given morning, our Hospice at Home night-time HCAs will be finishing their shift after providing a night-sitting service delivering companionship and safety so that people’s families and other carers can get as good a night’s rest as possible. Elsewhere In this newsletter both Chris Seddon of Nook Mortgages (page 15), and separately, Gerry Hardwick (page 16), explain how they got involved with fundraising for the hospice after experiencing the care their dads received from our Hospice at Home HCAs.
YEARS 25 AT WIRRAL HOSPICE ST JOHN’S
On Sunday 5th December, Wirral Hospice St John’s will switch on 10,000 beautiful lights to shine out brightly from the trees and buildings in and around the hospice gardens each evening, in the run up to and throughout Christmas time.
This year is the 25th anniversary of Light up a Life in which the people of Wirral traditionally come together in a moving, meaningful and uplifting way to commemorate and celebrate the lives of their loved ones who are no longer with us. Each year the hospice invites our whole Wirral community, individuals and businesses, to sponsor a light to remember family and friends with all the donations helping to fund the hospice’s cherished medical and nursing services. To keep everyone safe the hospice has made the difficult decision to cancel the outdoor Light up a Life switch-on service. However, if people would like to visit the lights in a small family group they can book a fifteen minute time slot on one of the evenings following the lights being switched on. And as in 2020, a specially pre-recorded service will be available for people to view from the comfort of their own homes, via the hospice’s website, from 6pm on Sunday 5th December.
www.wirralhospice.org/lightupalife
The short film will capture the spirit of the lights switchon, interspersed with reflective songs from our hospice choir, families walking and pausing for thought under the lights, scenes from hospice life as well as heartfelt readings from the hospice team, including some wonderful volunteers. People who sponsor a light will have the name of the person they are remembering entered into the specially produced books of honour which will be available to view online while a personal copy can also be preordered for viewing at home. A Light up a Life card with a personalised greeting will be sent out to all who request one and there is also the opportunity to buy a lovely rose gold metallic star tree decoration keepsake inscribed with the words, ‘Light up a Life’. Julia Evans, the hospice’s Fundraising Development Manager said, For the past 25 years Light up a Life has brought people together to remember our loved ones and reflect the loss we all feel, especially around Christmas time. Furthermore, our whole Wirral community, recognising the especially challenging circumstances we’ve all been through, have been so generous in supporting the hospice. Although we can’t host a full outdoor switch on service yet, we’ll look forward to seeing those who can visit for a short walk through the lights this year. We really cannot thank people enough as they continue to make their kind and thoughtful donations for Light up a Life which makes a massive contribution to the specialist care the hospice provides to our patients, their families and friends. To sponsor a light for Light up a Life please call 0151 343 0778 or visit www.wirralhospice.org/ lightupalife to make a donation online
To sponsor a light, please complete this form. We kindly suggest donations from £5 per light, thank you. Your full name:
Address:
Postcode:
Tel (in case of query): Please state how you would like the name of your loved one(s) to appear in our Book of Honour FIRST NAME SURNAME FROM
I would like to donate: £ Please send me star tree decorations (additional £5.00 each) I would like to pre order books of honour (additional £5 per book, to be posted after Light up a Life)
I want Wirral Hospice St John’s to treat my donation and all donations I have made in the last four years and all donations I make from the date of this declaration until I notify you otherwise as Gift Aid donations. I understand that if I pay less income tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my responsibility to pay any difference.
COMMUNICATIONS PREFERENCES
I do not wish to receive mailings about Light up a Life I do not wish to receive telephone calls
Wirral Hospice St John’s would like to use the information you have provided to contact you with news and information about the work, fundraising activities, events, goods and services of Wirral Hospice St John’s and its group companies. However, we may occasionally use carefully selected agents to process this information on our behalf. We will not pass on your details to any other organisation.
Cheques can be made out to ‘Wirral Hospice St John’s’ (Please tick) or please debit* my Visa/MasterCard (Please tick) *please note that we are not able to accept American Express & Visa Electron
Card No: __ __ __ __ / __ __ __ __ / __ __ __ __ / __ __ __ __ Expiry date: __ __ / __ __
Please cut out and return to: Fundraising Office, Wirral Hospice St John’s, Mount Road, Higher Bebington CH63 6JE
