St Columba's Hospice Life summer 2017

SUMMER 2017 EDINBURGH TO EAST LOTHIAN A SUMMER TO REMEMBER SUPER SUPPORTERS

IN THIS ISSUE 03 WELCOME 04 NEWS 06 A SUMMER TO REMEMBER 08 365 DAYS OF VOLUNTEERING 09 OUR FABULOUS 40 FOR 40 10 COLD FEET, WARM HEARTS 11 FROM EDINBURGH TO EAST LOTHIAN 12 OUR GREEN-FINGERED GROUNDSKEEPER 13 SHOP TO SUPPORT US 14 TALKING ABOUT DEATH, DYING AND BEREAVEMENT 15 STUDS & BALLS 16 OUR NEW DAY THERAPIES SERVICE 18 OUR FUNDRAISING PROMISE TO YOU 19 BOB’S STORY 20 SUPER SUPPORTERS 22 ALL THINGS VINTAGE 22 ART FRIENDS EXHIBITION 23 EVENTS CALENDAR 2017/18 24 THE KILTWALK

Keep in touch with us online for our latest news: www.stcolumbashospice.org.uk Find us on Facebook facebook.com/stcolumbas Follow us on Twitter @StColumbas Cover photograph courtesy of John Lord.

St Columba’s Hospice 15 Boswall Road Edinburgh EH5 3RW T: 0131 551 1381 E: fund@stcolumbashospice.org.uk Scottish charity number: SC003634 Registered in Scotland No. 48700 Design by teviotcreative.com

If you would like to receive your edition of Life via email rather than post, please let us know by contacting fund@stcolumbashospice.org.uk

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WELCOME TO THE SUMMER EDITION OF LIFE MAGAZINE WELCOME TO THE SUMMER EDITION OF LIFE MAGAZINE. WE ARE HALF WAY THROUGH OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR AND HAVE SEEN SOME WONDERFUL INITIATIVES TAKING PLACE TO MARK THE FOUR DECADES SINCE WE FIRST WELCOMED PATIENTS AND FAMILIES TO THE HOSPICE. In January we kicked off our year-long staff blogging campaign, which so far has seen us publish 12 blogs from our team across the Hospice. In the blogs, you can find out a little bit about what goes on behind-the-scenes at the Hospice and how all the different roles people do help support patients and families.

In March we launched our online interactive timeline showcasing the history of St Columba’s Hospice. The timeline charts some of the key moments in the Hospice’s history, as well as some of the quirky things that have happened here over the years.

In April we began a partnership with Macmillan, to enable patients and families access to the financial benefits and support they are eligible for.

The drop-in sessions are open to patients with any illness and are run by specially-trained Macmillan staff in the Hospice.

Throughout June supporters have been taking part in The Big Scotch Beef Sizzle, a fantastic fundraising event where people organise their own summer BBQs to raise money for the Hospice. This fundraising activity has also been taking place all over Scotland, and is part of Scottish Hospices Together – a Scotland-wide partnership which we are proud to be part of.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2017, we have lots more planned. In September The Kiltwalk will take place and participants will walk past the Hospice.

For the first time, the event is open to people fundraising for any charity which means you can fundraise for us.

At the end of September we are relaunching our day hospice and community care service.

Our new service will offer a range of classes, workshops and drop-in sessions designed to help patients live as well as they can.

In October we are running a conference for those working in or studying health and social care, featuring top international speakers. We are looking forward to welcoming many guests to Edinburgh for the conference and to highlight the work we have carried out in developing palliative care through education and research.

Of course, we will finish the year with our Light Up A Life appeal, and have our Christmas tree in Charlotte Square Gardens – an event I know many of you support generously each year to remember your loved ones.

So far, 2017 has been a great year for St Columba’s Hospice. We are continuing to put our five year strategy, Care & Compassion Matters, in to practice and ensuring that the Hospice can be here for another 40 more years.

On a personal note I am delighted to share that I recently got married hence the name change.

So an exciting year for us all. Thank you for your support, whether you have supported us for four days or 40 years – St Columba’s Hospice is the result of continued support from our local community and beyond.

Jackie Stone Chief Executive WWW.STCOLUMBASHOSPICE.ORG.UK

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NEWS FROM THE HOSPICE

Doo r

Sav D s Op e th ay e 2 tak 3 Sept e date 2017 n ing em for b p S e a Op atu rt in r, a for en Day Edin s we w rday b y i ! see ou to This i urgh’s ll be s out our b visit t a ch Doo mo uild he H anc rs e o we re ab ings o p a spic spa rovid ut the nd fin e, e ce f d or m. Watc servic ore h thi es new s s…

Some of the volunteer tin collectors

THANK YOU TIN COLLECTORS!

ANCHORS AWEIGH! There's a magnificent four metre long anchor outside our Centre for Education and Research and one of our staff members, Danuta, has been trying to discover where it came from. To fathom out its history, Danuta has been in touch with the Scottish Maritime Museum. A curator explained that our anchor would have had a wooden stock originally (the crossbar at the top of the shank) which makes it older than 1840, when iron stocks were introduced. He added that anchor design changed slowly between

1500 and 1850 or so, making it hard to date accurately. A visitor at Doors Open Day last year said there’s a similar anchor at the Royal Forth Yacht Club. Theirs was presented by the wife of a salvage specialist in 1899 and dates to the Siege of Leith in 1564. Could our anchor be of similar vintage? If you think you might be able to help Danuta solve the mystery of the Hospice anchor, please get in touch via email: dorlowska@stcolumbashospice.org.uk.

Thanks to the amazing work of the Hospice’s volunteer tin collectors, we are pleased to say that in 2016 we nearly doubled the funds raised from collection tins that are placed in the community.

In early 2016 we welcomed lots more tin collectors to the team and, thanks to their hard work, the funds raised from the tins went from £16,000 in 2015 to over £30,000 in 2016!

BEHIND-THE-SCENES OUR TRIBUTE GARDEN We are delighted so many people have admired our Tribute Garden since we planted the flowers in spring 2016. Many of the flowers now have delicate copper leaves on them too, each leaf representing a Tribute Fund and placed in memory of a person who died in our care.

Over 100 families have opened a Tribute Fund, and placed a leaf on a flower. Many families with a Tribute Fund have carried out special, personal and sometimes challenging fundraising activities to raise money for their Fund. To find out more about our Tribute Funds please visit our website: www.stcolumbashospice.org.uk.

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Throughout 2017, and to mark our 40th anniversary, members of staff from across the Hospice are writing about what goes on behind-the-scenes. Each blog post reveals something you might not know about the Hospice, the variety of roles that people undertake, and how everyone works towards helping patients and families. So far this year we have published 12 blogs, including blogs from a steward, a researcher, a fundraiser and many more. You can see the blogs on the news section of our website: www.stcolumbashospice.org.uk/news.

The volunteer tin collectors have made sure that our collection tins are in even more places too, with our tins in over 250 community hot spots such as cafés, pubs, shops, restaurants and many more. Jon Heggie, Director of Fundraising, said: “This is a truly fantastic achievement for our volunteer tin collectors and I’d like to say thank you to all 72 volunteers across Edinburgh and the Lothians for their hard work and continued support.”

MACMILLAN PARTNERSHIP CONTINUES The Hospice’s partnership with Macmillan is all about helping patients and families to access any financial support and benefits they might be eligible for. The first drop-in sessions were held in April and May and the sessions will continue throughout the rest of 2017. Macmillan’s specialist team will be in The Hub and are there to help patients with any illness find out about the financial support they can access. The Hub is at the Hospice, just around the corner from the Iona Café. Dates for the forthcoming drop-in sessions are published on our website.

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HELP US MAKE IT A

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Edi mond Park, nbu rgh Road, Sun , EH day 53 JR 20 1pm Augu – 3p st 20 17 m

SUMMER TO REMEMBER This year is a very important one for St Columba’s Hospice, as we mark 40 years of care and support.

We’ve been looking back at what has been achieved in those 40 years and we’ve also been thinking about the future, and about extending our support to reach more people in our community.

A special part of our 40th year is the launch of our new appeal and event, the Summer to Remember appeal. Hopefully you will have spotted the bright and colourful envelope this edition of Life was delivered in, and there’s also a leaflet enclosed with this magazine that lets you know a bit more about the appeal.

The appeal is an opportunity for our supporters to remember a loved one and support the work of the Hospice, helping us to care for as many people as possible in our local community across in Edinburgh and the Lothians. We’re hoping you will

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be able to fill in the back of the piece of bunting (pennant) that’s part of the leaflet, tear or cut it out, and then return it to us. We’ll then be stringing all of the pieces together to make a wonderfully colourful length of bunting that we’ll be displaying at our summer event on Sunday 20 August 2017 in Lomond Park, not far from the Hospice in Trinity.

The event on 20 August will be a chance for everyone who has supported the appeal to come together for some tea and cake, a little music and importantly the chance to see the bunting swaying in breeze between the trees in Lomond Park. It’s a Hospice event, and a family-friendly opportunity to come together to remember loved ones who have died. There will be a short speech about the work of the Hospice and we are keeping our fingers crossed for a sunny afternoon that will allow us all to relax on the summer grass for a couple of hours from 1pm-3pm.

Everyone who gets involved with this appeal will be helping us continue to reach out to as many people as possible in our community that could use our services. We provide care not only in the Hospice itself, but also through the work that’s carried out in the community alongside partners such as the East Lothian community palliative care team. Each and every donation we receive really is hugely appreciated and we simply couldn’t continue to provide our unique, and vital, care and support without the help of you, our wonderful supporters. This summer we really do hope we can create some truly spectacular summer bunting that will help us remember those who are no longer with us, and will help us reach more individuals and families when they need us most.

At the heart of our services is the commitment to help individuals and families make the most of the time they have together. Each and every day is important and we are often told that the Hospice team allowed families to create positive memories in the final days and weeks of a loved one’s life.

Coming together this summer will be an important time to remember this. It will also be a time to create new memories as we watch the bunting blow in the breeze and enjoy a bright, colourful celebration of the Hospice that means so much to

so many people, and more importantly remember the families we’ve had the privilege to support.

It really couldn’t be easier to get involved with this year’s summer appeal. Simply tear, or cut, out the piece of bunting that is attached with your leaflet, fill in the details, and then return it to us alongside your donation. We’d love to know if you think you can make it along to the event on 20 August, however it’s by no means essential. It’s absolutely OK to simply turn up on the day and be part of the event from 1pm-3pm. If you can’t make it along on 20 August that’s OK too – we’ll be flying all of the bunting and your piece will be an important part of an incredibly special colourful patchwork of memories.

If you have any questions at all about the appeal, or the event on Sunday 20 August, then please do contact Jon Heggie, Director of Fundraising on 0131 551 1381 or by emailing jheggie@stcolumbashospice.org.uk WWW.STCOLUMBASHOSPICE.ORG.UK

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365 DAYS OF VOLUNTEERING now seen the impact of this in a huge increase in the amount of money raised through collecting tins.

We have a number of volunteers who are working with senior members of staff, bringing their professional skills and experience to help us with some major pieces of work. These include clinical audit, and looking at how we measure and evaluate the implementation of our strategy.

These volunteers play a huge part in helping us demonstrate that we are doing the right things, in the right way, and making good use of all our resources.

Volunteers’ Week runs from 1-7 June every year, and in common with voluntary organisations from across Scotland, we held events to thank our fantastic volunteers for the work they do to support those who need the Hospice. We held tea parties in Volunteers’ Week, and I’m delighted to say that a number of our volunteers received Inspiring Volunteering Awards through Volunteer Edinburgh this year! This is also a good time to reflect on what has been happening with volunteering at St Columba’s Hospice and to look at our plans for the future.

Perhaps the most popular change has been introduction of Therapets within the Hospice – we now have several dogs and a cat visiting regularly. The people we support find these visits invaluable – particularly if they have had a pet themselves – and the volunteers find their Therapet is a great way to start a conversation.

We have seen a significant increase in the number of volunteers in some teams. We now have more than 10 people supporting us within volunteer services in a variety of roles, and our fundraising team was delighted at the response to a call for new tin collector volunteers. We have

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A number of our volunteers have seen huge changes in what they do – our Iona Café and our Hospice reception seem to get busier and busier; we have updated the look of our shops; and we have introduced new tills into the Iona Café and our shops. Our amazing volunteers have worked hard with us to keep up with all the changes, and offer a warm welcome to the people we look after – patients, families, staff, other volunteers and the public.

We also have plans for the future. We are working with current volunteers to trial some new small initiatives on the wards and with our counselling team. We are working with staff, volunteers and those we support in our inpatient unit on a largescale review of our ward volunteer role, in order to develop a more meaningful role for volunteers within our ward teams.

Within one short article, it is impossible to capture all the changes in volunteering. But the Hospice could not do everything that it does, without the steadfast support of the 660 volunteers that we have. Thank you to all of you – and we look forward to working with you in the future!

OUR FABULOUS 40 FOR 40 In the last edition of Life we launched a special initiative for our 40th anniversary year - our 40 for 40 club. We invited local businesses to support the Hospice in our special anniversary year and to commit to raising £1,000 each throughout this year. We are hoping to have 40 companies be part of the club and for them to collectively reach an amazing target of £40,000.

We are now half way through the year and we are delighted that teams from many organisations have already signed up and are having great fun raising the money to reach and even exceed their target.

Some of the fundraising challenges have been very imaginative. Jules Russell from Scottish Widows dyed her hair an amazing hue of blues to match the Hospice logo and raised over £600.

Dan and the team from TSB Leith branch flexed their considerable brain muscles and raised £650 by holding their own Pub Quiz, with more activities planned to help them reach their goal.

Keri and the team at Nuffield Health at the Omni Centre raised £1,900 through a variety of events - amazing!

Nicola and her team at Lloyds Banking Group raised £900 from their tasty bake sale and tombola, and this will be match-funded by £500 from Lloyds.

Of course some events are still to come in the second half of 2017. Gerry and his colleagues from Standard Life are holding a fundraising musical event at St Stephen’s Church in Stockbridge,

which will be match-funded by Standard Life.

Darren and all the staff at Scott Coppola will be holding a sizzling summer BBQ in aid of the Hospice, Darren will be looking forward to a spell in the docks with soggy sponges being thrown at him!

Fundraising events are not the only way that companies have been supporting us. John Lewis in Edinburgh selected us as their supported charity in the Place to Eat where customers could choose us as their special cause. Customers of several local branches of The Co-op selected the Hospice to be a beneficiary of the Co-op Local Community Fund, which raised over £2,500 for the Hospice.

The first organisation to join the 40 for 40 club was the Edinburgh Rugbies Oldies Society. The gentlemen in the society were quick to get over the try line - Barbara from our fundraising team enjoyed a lunch in the company of 130 members of the society, followed by an extremely generous donation of £2,000!

We are also very grateful to the organisations who have chosen to make a one-off £1,000 donation to the campaign – Tunnock’s, Baillie Signs and J Smart and Co. A huge thank you to all our 40 for 40 fundraisers, who so far have raised over £13,000, and we look forward to keeping you informed in how the campaign is progressing.

We still have another six months to go and we know that some great fundraising challenges are in the pipeline. If you work for a company and would like to join the 40 for 40 club, there’s still time to do so.

It would top off a brilliant year for the Hospice if we can find another 10 companies to join the 40 for 40 club – can you help?!

If you would like to find out more, please email Barbara who will help you do something amazing for the Hospice. Get in touch: bbrockie@stcolumbashospice.org.uk

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FROM EDINBURGH TO EAST LOTHIAN

COLD FEET, WARM HEARTS SUPPORTER DENISE TREKKED IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE TO RAISE FUNDS FOR US. HERE, DENISE SHARES HER EXPERIENCE.

My mum, Sandra McKenzie, sadly passed away in the Hospice after a short illness and I knew straight away I wanted to do something to repay the wonderful care and attention she received.

To ask people to dig deep and donate to another one of my adventures, I knew it had to be something different, a real challenge. How about a three day trek to the Arctic Circle camping in temperatures which can get as low as -40⁰c?!

Day one started with clear blue skies at 8.30am, walking in a balmy -10⁰c, each person pulling a ‘pulk’ or sledge behind them with all their own gear, and we headed off on our adventure. We walked for 11 hours on the first day and the last two hours were in the dark, crossing a frozen lake where we would camp for the night. We could see the tiny flicker of a campfire in the distance and yet we never seemed to get there. The group by this time were all very quiet, every ounce of energy we had simply being put into putting one foot in front of the other. When we did reach camp we were met with a lovely fire and some very tasty stew. The sloe-gin was passed round, the jokes started and suddenly the aches and pains of the day disappeared as we all soaked in the heat from the fire. Eventually one by one we peeled ourselves away from the fire and headed to our tents.

That first night camping the temperature got down to -23⁰c and I went to bed fully clothed including balaclava, hat and gloves. When the sun came up the next morning I crawled out of my tent to the sight of some very cold campmates, but we

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St Columba’s Hospice is based on the north side of Edinburgh, overlooking the ever-changing (and often dramatic) Forth and out towards North Queensferry and the Fife coast. If you were to stand in our beautiful gardens and look east you’d be able to make out the Edinburgh shoreline starting to bend round towards Musselburgh, and out towards North Berwick. Indeed not far from the Hospice grounds you can often see the top of North Berwick Law rising to a point on the horizon.

were all still smiling and ready to face another day.

Whilst I can’t say a boil in the bag all day breakfast is normally my first choice in the morning, I ate it as instructed, re-fuelled and off we went.

At times the sky was so blue and the sun so bright, it created a ‘diamond dust’ - sparkling ice crystals, an awesome sight. That combined with the truly stunning scenery, made this an experience of a lifetime. Not surprisingly there were tears as we crossed the finish line. To top it all off we saw the Northern Lights on our last night in Finland, AMAZING! During the trip, we…

• walked over 100,000 steps • didn’t change our clothes for three days • didn’t wash ourselves as there was no water • didn’t brush our teeth as the toothpaste and toothbrush were frozen • most importantly raised a tonne of money for some well-deserved causes including the Hospice.

If you are inspired by Denise’s adventure, get in touch with the Hospice’s fundraising team to see how you can get involved in the 2018 Arctic Trek.

It’s a stunning view - but it’s much more than that. It’s an outlook that encapsulates the reach of our care and support across the east of the city and out towards East Lothian. As a well-loved Edinburgh institution we are often associated with the city centre, and with the Trinity and Granton part of the town we have the pleasure of being based in. However our services, and our reach, extend throughout the whole of East Lothian too.

From Musselburgh to Dunbar and from Gullane to Gifford, we are the local hospice for the people of East Lothian.

In offering our care to the people of East Lothian, it’s not just about people coming into the Hospice for support. Importantly it’s about us helping individuals and families access care in their own communities. Working closely with partners like the East Lothian community palliative care team we can help reach more people in the place of their choosing.

For some families care at home is the right choice, whereas some would like to be cared for in the Hospice. At the heart of what we do is the flexibility to accommodate the wishes of those we support.

One of our key objectives at the Hospice is to raise more awareness about the work we do across East Lothian. We want to let people know

that we are there to support their needs if and when the time should come. Awareness comes in lots of shapes and sizes and over the coming months we are committed to increasing our presence across the county, to delivering more talks throughout the area, to placing more of our collecting tins in local businesses, and to becoming more involved in some of the wonderful events that take place there.

We already have some terrific supporters of the Hospice in East Lothian. One such supporter is Megan, a quite incredible young lady. Megan’s grandfather died in the Hospice and so she decided to raise money for us in his memory.

Megan, at the age of only 10 years old, decided to walk from her grandfather’s home in Prestonpans all the way to the doors of the Hospice on Boswall Road, some 11 miles!

There’s something special about this walk and about the commitment shown by Megan and her mum in support of the Hospice. It’s not just the incredible amount of money they raised, it’s that they chose to do something that really mattered to them – to connect their community with the Hospice. They chose to remember their father and grandfather in a personal way, bringing together two locations that were important to their family.

Megan’s great grandmother also died at the Hospice, bringing even more significance to the walk.

Over the coming months we’ll continue to let the people of East Lothian know that we are here for them. We are not only a place they can come to for support but also a place that extends beyond the boundaries of a physical building.

East Lothian really isn’t that far away – on a clear day you can see it from the Hospice, and if you have the stamina and commitment you can even walk it.

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OUR GREEN-FINGERED GROUNDSKEEPER

SHOP TO SUPPORT THE HOSPICE

REED DIFFUSER

£15

THE HOSPICE’S NEW GROUNDSKEEPER BILLY INTRODUCES HIMSELF… I'm the groundskeeper and my role is to look after the grounds and gardens around the main Hospice building and around the Centre for Education & Research buildings.

Well-tended gardens hopefully provide a positive first impression to patients and visitors and should reflect the quality care and attention to detail that the Hospice provides. It's well known that the ability to enjoy outdoor spaces can be therapeutic to patients and families. The gardens provide an opportunity to get some fresh air or take some time out in a soothing environment.

SCENTED CANDLE

£12

I want to make the environment as therapeutic as it can be and hope patients and loved ones can make use of the space should they need it.

HOSPICE TEDDY

My job is very diverse. Of course, I cut the grass and look after the plants and as well as this in the last few weeks I've also been a squirrel hunter and bird rescuer! I have also spent time managing a team of 20 keen volunteers from a bank who spent the day helping in the gardens! You will often meet me walking about in my socks - I got into trouble with our cleaners for traipsing in soil with my muddy wellies!

£6

We also have new gifts including stunning scented candles made in Scotland exclusively for us. With scents including Scottish rose, black pomegranate and sea breeze, the candles throw their scent well and make any room feel more homely.

For me this is my dream job. Not only do I get to work in the fresh air amongst the spectacular scenery of Edinburgh, I get the challenge of transforming and creating a really important environment for such a special organisation.

As well as the candles we sell a range of reed diffusers, with beautiful scents that last up to 12 weeks. You can buy all of these new gifts in the Iona Café or from our online shop on our website.

I joined the Hospice from a very different industry and can genuinely say that it's a real team culture at the Hospice. Every role really seems to matter - people are put at the heart of what we do.

We really think through our impact on patients, visitors and each other.

Since I started I have enjoyed my time here immensely. Everyone has been very welcoming and I really feel part of the team, even as the 'new kid on the block'! We have great plans for the grounds and I always welcome comments or ideas on how I can really make the gardens the best they can be.

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In May we were pleased to launch a new range of products available in the Hospice’s Iona Café.

If you’re visiting the Iona Café for a cup of tea or lunch, you can now browse our new range of gifts. For children, we have a gorgeous cuddly teddy bear, which has already proved to be very popular.

Don’t forget we also have a range of virtual gifts that you can buy through our online shop, including sponsoring a nurse for a day, buying a patient’s meals for a week, or buying supplies for our crafts sessions.

COTTON SHOPPING BAG

£2

Shop our new range of gifts and virtual gifts on our website: www.stcolumbashospice.org.uk/online-shop

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TALKING ABOUT DEATH, DYING AND BEREAVEMENT St Columba’s Hospice’s is focussed on engaging

of staff to give talks and meet members of

with the community about our work and about

local communities; creative partnerships

death, dying and bereavement. We aren’t the

with local arts organisations; the publication

only ones doing this – there’s a growing national

of this magazine; and hosting open days.

and international emphasis on encouraging

Such activities help increase knowledge and

greater openness about these experiences.

sometimes dispel myths. At our events, people

Why does it matter how open we are about death, dying and bereavement? Simply put, these experiences are common to us all. How do we know what to expect and what services are

are often surprised to learn that many of our patients are discharged from our inpatient unit, so they can live in their own home again or in a long term care facility.

available before a time of illness? How can we

Elsewhere, some hospices organise art and

be helped to have conversations with our loved

music projects with local schools and one

ones about our wishes? How can we discuss our

hospice created a documentary about their

preferences for treatment and place of care,

work in Scotland.

about legal matters such as power of attorney and a Will, and funeral arrangements? How can we better support each other in bereavement and recognise that we all experience this in different ways and over different time scales?

One way of addressing these questions is

There are many inspirational and creative initiatives around the world which aim to increase openness and a wide variety of resources some of which we have included in the table below.

through encouraging greater openness in

St Columba’s Hospice is looking at how we can

society about death, dying and bereavement

take further creative steps, both big and small

– it is part of our experience of being human.

to encourage openness about death, dying and

Many organisations, communities and individuals are involved in encouraging openness about death, dying and bereavement.

St Columba’s Hospice is involved through a

Studs & Balls will be the ultimate way to kick off the 2017 Scottish Rugby Union Autumn International Test series as Scotland look to continue their fine form. Our event will take place on Friday 13 October (don’t worry if you’re superstitious, it’s going to be a great night!) at the club house of Stewart Melville R.F.C, Inverleith. You will be fed, entertained and very pleased you bought a ticket to our sportsperson’s lunch!

Guests at Studs & Balls will be treated to a fantastic three course meal, all the while enjoying a rollicking afternoon of all things sporting. We will have top sporting names

hosting the evening and keeping you entertained throughout – you can expect plenty of jokes and laughs. With the bar open for the duration, Studs & Balls is the perfect way to spend a Friday evening warming up for the season of rugby that awaits.

Guests will also have the chance to win some fantastic sporting prizes. The highlight of those prizes is tickets to each of Scotland’s home Autumn International Tests against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand. We’re not stopping there, we also have tickets to each of Scotland’s home 2018 Six Nations matches. To be in with a chance of winning tickets to each of Scotland’s upcoming international rugby fixtures you will need to join us on the night - so don’t miss out.

We would love to see you at Studs & Balls in October, to book your tickets call 0131 551 1381 or email fund@stcolumbashospice.org.uk.

share your ideas about how we can address these themes, please get in touch with Danuta by email: dorlowska@stcolumbashospice.org.uk Having these conversations will hopefully help

Café being open to the public; availability

us, and those around us, to be better prepared.

Death Cafés Informal opportunities for conversation about death in cafés or similar settings which take place worldwide.

www.deathcafe.com

Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief Their website hosts a comprehensive list of resources including leaflets, films and a photographic exhibition.

www.goodlifedeathgrief.org.uk

Before I Die… Public art projects in cities around the world inviting people to complete the sentence “Before I die I want to…”

www.beforeidie.city

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Studs & Balls is a brand new event for 2017 and is something we are very excited about here at the Hospice. This will be the first time we have introduced a sportsperson’s lunch into our fundraising calendar and with such a rich sporting heritage in the city it seems the perfect new event to introduce in our anniversary year.

bereavement. If you’d like to take part and/or

range of initiatives which include our Iona

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STUDS & BALLS

Win tickets for Scotland's home games at Murrayfield

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OUR NEW

DAY THERAPIES SERVICE YVONNE WHITEHOUSE EXPLAINS HOW OUR CARE FOR COMMUNITY PATIENTS IS CHANGING illnesses. Many hospices throughout the country are changing their day services with the aim of supporting the increasing numbers of people who would benefit from earlier access to palliative care and as part of the St Columba’s Hospice strategy, we are redesigning and relaunching our day hospice to meet this aim. The service will continue to be available to anyone living at home with a non-curable illness within our catchment area, at any point in their illness.

In September, we will be launching a new day therapies service and I am very excited to be moving to the role of Day Therapies Manager.

The rooms and area we currently know as day hospice will also have a new name so watch this space to see what it will be called!

I am Yvonne and I’ve been a physiotherapist for 15 years, the last 10 of which have been spent in palliative care, first in the Victoria Hospice in Kirkcaldy, then in the NHS and now at St Columba’s Hospice.

Day hospice has always been an integral part of the care we offer here, by supporting people with palliative illnesses who live at home. Until now the service has been run by a great team of nurses and volunteers, with input from other members of the Hospice team, and has focussed on helping people manage the physical, emotional, spiritual and social effects of a progressive terminal illness.

With advances in medical diagnostics and treatments, palliative care is evolving as more people live longer with serious long term

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In deciding what we should include in the new services, we spoke with patients, volunteers and Hospice staff to get their thoughts and opinions.

Patients really valued the social element of the day, and the sense of support that came from spending time with other people in similar situations to themselves. They thought that more activities to choose from would be a good thing for the future and staff also wanted to be able to expand the range of services, clinics and activities they are able to offer.

The new core team will include myself, a social worker, and a rehabilitation assistant. In addition, the people that attend will continue to be supported by a team of volunteers and the other specialist health professionals.

For patients living with the symptoms of a condition, the side effects of treatment, and the emotion of knowing they have a palliative illness can be hard. Since their diagnosis, people

" Day therapies service will help you to reconnect with the things that matter most to you " have often spent a lot of time in hospital, at medical appointments and with doctors. Often, the things that they were interested in and the things that were enjoyable in their life fall by the wayside in the midst of an illness and they can feel defined by the illness and lose sight of the person they were prior to it. The new day therapies service will aim to help people reconnect with those things that matter to them, to rediscover forgotten hobbies and to explore different ways of doing things through a structured timetable of classes, groups, and events that people can chose from. All of these activities will be specifically designed to help people live as fully and independently as possible. People will be able to work towards goals to achieve things that are important to them, in a safe and supported environment.

We hope to see people earlier in their illness and to be able to teach them coping strategies and to empower them to live as well as they can.

Staff will be available to help people think about the future, to help people have some of the harder conversations with their families and to give guidance on some of the practical planning that can often feel very worrying and confusing.

A lady that came to the Hospice for physiotherapy told me “when I told people I had incurable cancer the first thing they always said was sit down, let me do that for you”. She said “I didn’t want to sit down, I didn’t want to be the

mum, the granny and the wife with cancer; I just wanted to be the me I always had been. But my family were worried I would do too much, and that doing things would make me worse and it was really hard for all of us.”

At day therapies, you will be able to sit down when you want to, but you will also be encouraged to be as active as you can be. We know that joints get stiff and bones start to creak when we sit still and it is just as important for people to keep moving and keep as well as they can when they have a palliative illness.

We hope the new day therapies service will build on the dedicated services that have been provided by Helen and the current team and we wish Helen well in her retirement.

If you are reading this and are interested in volunteering with us then please get in touch through the volunteering pages on our website.

From September, the timetable of activities and therapies will be published on our website. If you, or someone you know, has a palliative illness and you think they would benefit from attending the day therapies service please speak to your GP to be referred.

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OUR FUNDRAISING PROMISE TO YOU Without the support we receive, in so many ways, we simply couldn’t continue to run our services. We are committed to the fair, honest and transparent use of your data and as such we’ve put together a new Fundraising Promise to highlight how you can expect us to communicate with you, and how we’ll use and store your data.

The fundraising commitments below are also on our website and if at any point you feel that you’d like to receive more, or less, information from us then please do let us know – we’d love to hear from you. Thank you again for your support, we couldn’t be here for families in Edinburgh and the Lothians without you.

OUR FUNDRAISING PROMISE TO YOU

YOU, OUR DONORS, ARE AT THE HEART OF THE WORK THAT IS CARRIED OUT AT ST COLUMBA’S HOSPICE.

YOUR INFORMATION

We will only use your data for the purposes of thanking you for your gifts, updating you on the work of the Hospice, and making requests for future gifts from time to time.

Your information will be stored safely and securely.

We will not sell your data to third party organisations or share your information with other charities.

We promise to make any information we hold on you available to you if you make a request to us in writing.

We rely on the wonderful support of our community to provide care and support to our patients and their families. You play a vital role in helping to raise the money we need to continue our services, and we couldn’t do it without your help. We believe you should trust that our resources are being used effectively, our fundraising is being carried out efficiently, and that your information is being treated fairly. As a valued supporter, it’s important to us to make the commitments below.

OUR FUNDRAISING PRACTICE

We promise that our fundraising activities will be legal, open, honest and respectful.

We will comply with the law as it applies to charities and fundraising and we commit that we guarantee to adhere to best practice as outlined in the Fundraising Code of Practice.

We will monitor fundraisers, volunteers and third parties working with us to raise funds, ensuring that they also comply with this Code of Practice.

BOB’S STORY In the autumn of 2016 I went to the doctor feeling extremely unwell – I had no energy to do anything and was feeling terrible. He sent me for a lot of tests and I went for a CT scan at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh and it showed that I have cancer in my bowel and bladder. The scan was at the beginning of December and I was kept in hospital whilst I had an operation to take away part of my bowel.

After the operation the doctors told me I was too weak to have any further surgery and that my condition is terminal. A few days later I was given the option of going home or coming to the Hospice and I am glad to say I came to the Hospice in January this year and I have never regretted it.

My home is in Port Seton, I was born and brought up in North Berwick and have lived in East Lothian most of my life and I have always enjoyed living there. My wife Margaret had been a volunteer at the Hospice for 17 years so I already knew that it was a nice place. When I was admitted I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and it was quite an emotional time. My first impression was just how lovely the place was and I haven’t seen anything so far that would change my mind.

COMMUNICATING WITH YOU

FUNDRAISING COMPLAINTS

We promise to provide you with, or make accessible, information about our work and our finances so you can see how your money is being spent and the difference you are making to the people and families we support.

If you feel we have not adhered to these standards, or think we could do better please, in the first instance, contact Jon Heggie, Director of Fundraising, on 0131 551 1381 or email jheggie@stcolumbashospice.org.uk

The care I have received has been absolutely first class. I have been having quite a lot of trouble lately and the doctors and nurses have been very patient and diligent trying to find out how they can alleviate the problems for me.

We promise to communicate with you in a way that suits you, either by email, phone or in writing and if you prefer us to contact you less we will respect your wishes and communicate with you only about the Hospice’s news that is of interest to you.

We commit to ensuring our complaints process is clear and that an investigation will be carried out upon receiving a fundraising complaint.

We promise to communicate with you throughout and provide evidence for our actions and decisions. Our complaints policy can be found on our website.

I recently moved from room 15 to a three bed room, and I was a bit afraid that it was going to be different nursing staff looking after me. You build up a rapport with the staff and fortunately since I moved rooms it’s all the same nurses and we still have the same conversations and chatter.

If you no longer want us to communicate with you, we will respect your wishes and stop our communications.

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However, should you be dissatisfied with our response, you are be able to take this further by contacting the Fundraising Complaints Hub on 0808 164 2520 or scottishfundraisingcomplaints@scvo.org.uk

In the few months I have been here, my health has changed greatly. At the Western General Hospital the doctors said I was someone who was unlikely to survive much longer, however now the Hospice doctors are saying I can be moved to

long term care and I’m going to be discharged from the Hospice. My health has stabilised because the care here is so good. Something as simple as the food is important. I have actually put on weight whilst I have been here, which is something a cancer patient isn’t expected to do.

When I was living at home, I filled my spare time with photography, making and flying model aircraft, playing golf, reading crime fiction and looking after the garden. I’ve always kept myself active and even whilst I have been in the Hospice I’ve tried to keep myself fairly busy.

Shortly after I was admitted the chaplain, Suzie, came to meet me. I find Suzie such an easy person to talk to, and she’s very enthusiastic. I said one of my hobbies is photography and she asked if I had tried doing any photography whilst I had been in here. Suzie told me there’s nothing to stop me being pushed about in a wheelchair and taking photos in the Hospice. My son, Allister, very kindly helped me with the equipment and has been a great help pushing me around in my bed and wheelchair, finding flowers for me to take photos of. I have taken about 80 or 90 photographs of flowers in the Hospice and I am thoroughly enjoying myself. Suzie even organised an exhibition of the photographs I have taken to be displayed at the Hospice, it’s wonderful to see the pictures on display and it has even inspired other people to take up their hobbies again too.

Bob with his exhibition of photographs

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SUPER SUPPORTERS Sammy Kildruff said: “We chose to raise funds as the Hospice cared amazingly for our friend Michael 'Westy' Weston throughout his illness.

The kindness and care given by the staff was, and is, greatly appreciated by Michael and those closest to him. Michael was a lover of the outdoors and a huge fan of whisky, so we thought it'd be fitting to walk the West Highland Way over his birthday week.”

Carolyn from Sing in the City said: “The money

Scott Biddle said: “My partner Anne was cared

was raised at Sing in the City's week-long seventh

for by the Hospice from August to October

birthday celebrations. Every choir had a cake

2015. She was well looked after and the staff

bake week, there was a Mad Hatters competition,

were great to both her and myself whilst

a raffle and the celebrations culminated in a

she was in the Hospice's care. In early spring

birthday party which was a coffee morning-come-

2016, I decided to build a bike with a bit of

kids pirate party-come-members’ talent showcase.

help from a few people, to keep me busy and

Just another fabulously fun week at choir!”

occupied. I spent nine months building the motorbike from scratch and I took the bike to the Scottish Motorcycle Show to display it. The show was amazing, the bike and the story behind it caused quite a stir. I had guys shaking my hand, women kissing and hugging me, one lady was in tears and lots of people gave donations for the Hospice! I was very Jenny Bigham said: “I'm not a natural runner but decided to challenge myself. I entered the Meadows Marathon 5k and began training,

Granny Pat. The race took place on Granny's birthday, 16 October. All funds raised went to the Hospice where Granny spent her final days gazing out across The Forth.”

even here now and she’s still the centre of attention!

I even took my running gear with me on holiday!

Rose Gaunt said: “Jake, Jenny and I ran the Manchester half Marathon in memory of our

humbled by everyone’s attention, Anne’s not

I already gave a monthly donation to the Rachel Picket said: “We chose St Columba’s

Hospice as my granny spent time there and the

Hospice as one of the charities to receive funds

surroundings and staff were just fabulous – it

raised from our annual concert. Our concert runs

was an easy choice to raise money from the 5k

for three nights at the Church Hill Theatre in

for the Hospice. When I completed my 5k, in an

Edinburgh, and at the end of each night we take

impressive time (for me!) of just over 30mins,

a collection from the audience as they leave. Any

I felt brilliant.”

Elizabeth Bowie organised a disco at her local bowling club, to raise money for the Hospice after we cared for her husband Alex.

profits made from the concert also go to the two charities. This year's concert took place in April and we are delighted to have raised £600 for each charity.”

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ALL THINGS VINTAGE

EVENTS DIARY 2017/18

To help mark our 40th anniversary we thought we’d hold a vintage fair, harking back to the 1970s when we opened our doors for the very first time. We’ve got a great day lined up and we hope you will join us.

peruse including vintage, period and retro clothing, furnishings and crockery, jewellery and accessories and any number of collectibles.

PEDAL FOR SCOTLAND SUNDAY 10 SEPTEMBER FROM £19 PER PERSON

There will also be a vintage tea party, stocked with traditional sweets and treats, and a classic bar set up selling a variety of cocktails and mocktails. Keep your eyes open for our popup hair and beauty salon where you can treat yourself to a vintage makeover. To top the day off there will also be a tombola and a raffle so no one has to leave empty handed.

For anyone looking to take on a cycling challenge this autumn, Pedal for Scotland is a great experience. The event features the 45 mile Classic Challenge, the 110 mile Big Belter, and the traffic-free 10 mile Wee Jaunt. For details visit www.pedalforscotland.org

We will be taking over the Freemason’s Hall on George Street for the day on Saturday 23 September, packing the grand hall full of stalls, peddling the finest of vintage wares and playing some of the finest records ever released to get your toes tapping and hips swinging.

You can expect to see a variety of stalls offering great affordable vintage shopping, anything and everything will be on offer for you to

The Vintage Fair is free entry, everyone is welcome and we hope you see you there!

ART FRIENDS

OF ST COLUMBA’S HOSPICE A staple in our calendar for over 30 years, the Art Friends of St Columba’s Hospice Exhibition is one of our most loved events. This year we have made a few changes to the event which we are sure you will love, so please read on to find out what’s new!

New Date

Previously held in July, the Art Friends Exhibition will this year be held in October. The exhibition opens with a drinks reception on the evening of Friday 20 October and the exhibition remains open until Sunday 22 October.

New Venue

This year we are moving to a new venue, The Edinburgh Academy in Stockbridge. The new venue affords us lots of extra space to hang more paintings and drawings than ever before. It also enables us to expand our offerings of other works of art including sculpture and original prints. We will also be offering cards and crafts as well as a café and childrens' area.

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New Programme

As part of the exhibition in 2017 we will also be running a programme of talks, led by experts in various creative areas. Our talks will take place on the Saturday and Sunday of the exhibition and are open to all. We will release our complete programme of talks before the event.

Same Great Event

We hope you will join us this year for what promises to be another great Art Friends Exhibition. We have made lots of changes but at its heart it is the same great event which our community loves. We think you will love the new look Art Friends of St Columba’s Hospice Exhibition and we can’t wait to see you there!

THE EDINBURGH KILTWALK SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER FROM £13.20 PER PERSON You can now take part in the Kiltwalk and raise money for St Columba’s Hospice, and one of the routes even goes right past the Hospice! Find out more at www.thekiltwalk.co.uk

VINTAGE FAIR SATURDAY 23 SEPTEMBER

ART FRIENDS EXHIBITION 20 - 22 OCTOBER EDINBURGH ACADEMY, STOCKBRIDGE FREE ADMISSION Our Art Friends exhibition showcases the very best of Scottish talent, alongside emerging new artists. The works including jewellery, paintings, prints and sculpture are all for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Hospice.

THE GIANT PUB QUIZ THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER EDINBURGH CORN EXCHANGE £15 PER PERSON OR £75 FOR A TEAM OF SIX PEOPLE Put your knowledge to the test at the quiz for a chance to win a brilliant top prize!

Tickets include a pie and a pint at the fun and relaxed evening.

Browse a variety of vintage stalls, kick back with some classic cocktails or boogie to some of the finest records ever released! A fully themed event harking back to days gone by.

LIGHT UP A LIFE MONDAY 11 DECEMBER CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH

SCOTTISH HALF MARATHON SUNDAY 24 SEPTEMBER

Our annual event where we light up the Tree of Remembrance in memory of those no longer with us, part of our Light Up A Life appeal.

The Scottish Half Marathon and 10K takes place just outside Edinburgh along the East Lothian coastline. The routes are flat and fast – perfect for setting a personal best and for those beginning your running career. For info visit www.scottishhalfmarathon.com

STUDS & BALLS FRIDAY 13 OCTOBER STEWART’S MELVILLE CLUBHOUSE, EDINBURGH A new event for 2017 - join us for our first ever sportsman’s lunch. Read all about it on page 15!

BURNS SUPPER JANUARY 2018 EDINBURGH CORN EXCHANGE Dance away the winter blues at our Burns Supper, celebrating Scotland’s national bard with live music, traditional toasts and dancing.

For more fundraising events please go to

www.stcolumbashospice.org.uk

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Have an amazing day out and all the funds you raise go to your chosen charity or local cause NEW FOR 2017 - We top up all fundraising by 10% so YOUR charity now gets 110% back

Great walk for all the family

Perfect for big groups

The ultimate Kiltwalk experience

*Distances vary per location

Glasgow 30 April | Aberdeen 4 June

Walk with Team StAugust Columba’s Dundee 20 | Edinburgh Hospice 17 September at the Sign Edinburgh Kiltwalk to up at thekiltwalk.co.uk help us mark our 40th year.

Walk with us on Sunday 17 September Sign up at thekiltwalk.co.uk or contact the Hospice on fund@stcolumbashospice.org.uk

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