Welcome
Wright, St Luke’s CEO
Welcome to our Spring edition of St Luke’s News and thank you for your kind and continued support of the Hospice.
Spring brings warmer weather, lighter evenings and hopefully a chance to enjoy our gardens more. This year, for me, it also marks the start of a new ‘Spring’ as I retire after seven years as CEO of St Luke’s. Of course, I am very much looking forward to spending more time with my family, but I will also miss being directly part of St Luke’s and witnessing the difference the Hospice makes to so many people, and their loved ones, every single day.
It has been a privilege to work with an amazing team, some of whom are celebrated on the following page for their long and dedicated service to the
Hospice. I may not have achieved their longevity at St Luke’s, but I hope I have played my role in helping the Hospice to achieve it’s aims of reaching out, caring for more people, making our buildings even better and being financially sustainable so that it is here for generations to come.
Something which has become increasingly apparent in recent years is the importance of gifts in wills to the survival and growth of hospices such as ours. With rising costs and growing demand for our services, these gifts are more important to us than ever. I am therefore delighted to share details of the ‘This Is Hospice Care’ campaign, a groundbreaking collaboration between 143 hospices including St Luke’s, which hopes to shine a light on the essential role we play in our communities and protect our futures. The campaign urges us all to help hospice care live on for all, for now, forever. You can read more about this on pages 16 and 17.
Many of our patients describe the feeling they get when they come through the doors of St Luke's as similar to being wrapped in a warm hug. This is Hospice Care - and it is only possible thanks to your support. On behalf of all the families we are privileged to care for, thank you.
Neil Wright, CEO
How to contact us
St Luke’s Hospice, Grosvenor House, Queensway, Winsford, Cheshire CW7 1BH T 01606 551246 E enquiries@slhospice.co.uk www.slhospice.co.uk
Neil
Years of dedication
(From left to right) Michaela Carr, Jane Thompson, Adele Capper, Margaret Rogerson, Liz Freeman, Karen Jackson, Andrea Ashley & Nicola Mainwaring with CEO Neil Wright (centre) and Director of Care Kate Estcourt (far right) they face the most heartbreaking of times."
The long and dedicated service of nine members of staff has been celebrated at the Hospice.
From Health Care Assistants and Ward Sisters, to Fundraisers and members of our Trading Team, they have collectively clocked up an incredible 211 years of service.
Our longest serving member of staff, Sister Karen Jackson from our Inpatient Unit, has worked for the Hospice for 30 years. She said: “It has been, and continues to be, an absolute privilege to work for St Luke’s. It’s not a job, it’s a vocation, and I have been lucky to work alongside an amazing team.
"I have been honoured to care for so many families and support them as
Jane Thompson from our Fundraising Team added: “I came to St Luke’s 24 years ago thinking ‘I’ll give it a try but if it makes me sad I can always leave.’ After a week I knew St Luke’s was already in my blood. What a complete privilege to be able to see fundraising at St Luke’s grow, to introduce events like the Midnight Walk, our Christmas tree recycling and our family favourite The Bubble Rush. The joy of working alongside totally amazing people and meeting so many inspirational patients and families never wanes.”
Congratulations and thanks to all for their dedicated and unwavering service to hospice care.
Reuse, Rewear, Relove...
Introducing St Luke's at Seventy
Two
We're always looking for ways to improve the experience of our customers and to support the shops to raise money for patient care. That is why the start of this year has seen some big changes to two of our largest retail units in Winsford.
Our shop on Delamere Street has undergone an exciting refurbishment and renovation. Renamed 'St Luke's at Seventy Two', it is now a more spacious, modern boutique-style shop with so many great items to choose from.
Visit 'St Luke's at Seventy Two' at 72 Delamere Street, Winsford, CW7 2LU and browse our range of pre loved fashion and homewares.
St Luke's at Seventy Two offers an impressive selection of women's, men's and children's fashion items, whilst also boasting a beautiful homeware section.
Whether you're hunting for a stylish bargain or a one-of-a-kind find, this is your go-to destination for discovering quality pre-loved treasures and hidden gems.
Our Warehouse just got a makeover!
Our Warehouse, located on Road One of the Winsford Industrial Estate, has also undergone a makeover.
Customers will now find a smart, centrally located service desk, improving visibility and creating a more efficient workspace for our staff and volunteers.
As the heart of our furniture sales and donations, the redesigned shop floor showcases a wide selection of high-quality furniture and generously donated goods, with every purchase directly supporting patient care at the Hospice.
5 For more details of our nine charity shops and Warehouse, including St Luke's at Seventy Two, please visit www.slhospice.co.uk/shops
Our Spring Appeal
Will you help Clare and her team to provide the support and care that every person living with dementia, and their loved ones, deserve?
AtSt Luke's we help people to live the life they can - that means people living with dementia, and their loved ones too. However, the demand is great and the resource is scarce.
Over the last three years we have been proud to build the foundations of a service through our Day Hospice. This has included 1-2-1 support across a number of services including our Complementary Therapy Clinics, as well as the introduction of Dementia Carers' Workshops, Music Therapy and a Carers' Weekly Drop-in. But it's not enough...
Do you know It's estimated that one in three of us will be affected by dementia in our lifetime? With this growing reality, we are seeing an increasing demand for our dementia support services at the Hospice. This is where we need your help... Your generosity can make an incredible difference to the lives of those facing this heartbreaking diagnosis.
It is our aim to raise £28,000 to fund a dedicated, specialist, dementia nurse at the Hospice. Your donation can help ensure that local people living with dementia, and their families, receive the compassionate care and support they deserve during one of the most challenging times of their lives.
The difference we've made so far...
With your help we can do so much more.
To make a donation to our Spring Appeal and support our dementia services please visit www.slhospice.co.uk/springappeal
A specialist dementia nurse will enable us to:
Reach out further into our local community to support people living with dementia.
Offer greater support to the person living with dementia.
Support them with other medical needs as well as dementia symptoms.
Provide personalised support and guidance, including planning for future needs.
Help avoid crisis and NHS admissions.
In future, aim to reintroduce music sessions and an exercise programme.
With your kind support, we can provide specialised dementia care and support to more people like Robert, Simon and Alan (pictured above). To learn more about the impact of our services you can also read about the experiences of Lil and Ron from Winsford, who share their story on the next page.
Every donation will bring us one step closer to our goal of raising £28,000. Your kindness will ensure that local people with dementia are not alone, that their carers have the support they need, and that families can face the future with the knowledge that they are not fighting this battle by themselves.
To make a donation please visit www.slhospice.co.uk/springappeal or call 01606 555816.
Your support will mean so much...
By donating to our Spring Appeal you will be supporting couples like Lil and Ron Kelsall from Winsford.
Lil cares for her husband Ron who was diagnosed with early onset vascular dementia five years ago. She shares the difference St Luke's dementia services have made to both their lives after they initially struggled to access support and guidance locally.
"The support from St Luke’s has meant absolutely everything. I don’t like to admit it, but I think it saved me. I didn’t realise the toll it was taking on me. I felt like I was going mad, but St Luke’s has brought us so much help and comfort."
Lil continues: “Before I found St Luke's, I felt like I was on my own as a carer. Everybody says there’s help available, but when you’re trying to access it, it’s like running into a brick wall.
"The Dementia Carers' Workshops at St Luke’s opened up a whole new world for me, and the group of people on the course with me have all stayed in touch. We’ve set up a WhatsApp group to support each other. It’s been a lifeline.”
and Ron
While Lil attended the workshops, Ron was cared for in our Day Hospice, which Lil describes as vital to her wellbeing. “I could relax knowing that Ron was safe, and that means so much. There may be other courses elsewhere, but they don’t accept your loved one. Here, we received everything we needed, and we have both benefitted.”
Please help us to support more couples like Lil and Ron by donating to our Spring Appeal. Every donation will make a difference to people living with dementia and their loved ones. Thank you.
Help us support more people like Lil and Ron by making a donation at www.slhospice.co.uk/springappeal
Lil
pictured with Day Hospice Sister Sarah Whitby
Capturing precious memories
We understand that memories are one of the most cherished gifts we can leave behind. They provide a lasting connection between loved ones, offering comfort and a sense of peace long after a person has passed.
In response to this need, staff from our Counselling Team, Occupational Therapy and Inpatient Unit have come together to develop a variety of activities that support patients and their families in capturing those precious moments. From finger and handprint paintings to memory boxes, recorded messages, letter writing, scrapbooks, journals, and even love hearts and jars of love there are many creative ways for families to preserve meaningful mementos.
Occupational Therapist, Anna Mackland said: "Capturing memories for people can be so important. It's the only chance we get to do something like this, and if we miss that opportunity it can have a big impact on how someone processes their grief. It offers people a way of having a continued bond with someone after they've passed away."
The resources for capturing memories are easily accessible on our Inpatient Unit, ensuring that staff can introduce families to these options at a time that feels right for them.
While the service is still in its early stages, initial feedback has been positive. Anna added: "The nurses have really valued getting involved with capturing memories and seeing the comfort that it can bring to patients and their families.”
For more information on our Capturing Memories service, please visit www.slhospice.co.uk/capturing-memories
From Left to right: Counsellor Alexandra Collins, Staff Nurse Liz Jenks and Healthcare Assistant Andrea Ashley
Because of you...
Thanks to kind supporters who give regularly to our Hospice, we are able to continue providing our vital care and support to those who need us - people like Denise and Emma whose families have both been supported by the Hospice. Together we make this difference…
Denise’s Story
Denise Cooper from Crewe says she can never repay St Luke’s for the care and compassion shown to her husband Nigel during his final days on our Inpatient Unit. Reflecting on the support her family received, Denise shares heartfelt gratitude for the nurses and staff who made a difficult time a little more bearable.
Denise volunteering at our Crewe shop
“I can’t thank the nurses enough because nothing was too much trouble for them. Everybody had a smile and that helps when you know things are bad," she says. “My son, daughter and I stayed with him towards the end and the staff just couldn’t do enough for us. They looked after all of us, not just Nigel. They were so gentle and understanding.
“St Luke’s is a family, there’s no two ways about it, and when you’re there, you are one of them, part of their family. Even now, when I go back to the Hospice, everybody still remembers me. All the hundreds of families they must care for, but they still remember.”
Struggling to cope with her grief, Denise was provided with counselling at the Hospice which then led to her volunteering at our charity shop in Crewe. She explains: “It hit me like a ton of bricks because Nigel seemed well, and then in the space of three months he’d gone. It just didn’t seem real. My counsellor was absolutely brilliant because I could talk to him about everything and anything. He always told me nothing was stupid, no matter how I felt or what I said, and he helped me no end.
"Volunteering was his suggestion because it gets me out of the house, now I'm on my own, and I'm meeting new people. It's my way of repaying the Hospice. I’d give them anything and I always will if I can.”
A regular donation will help us support more local people like Denise. For more information visit www.slhospice.co.uk/regulardonation
Emma’s Story
Some families have an association with St Luke’s that spans generations, weaving its way through times of both heartache and healing.
Emma Hickmott is currently being supported by our Day Hospice in her recovery from breast cancer, but her relationship with St Luke’s began when she was just 28 and her precious mum was cared for in her final days on our Inpatient Unit following her own hard fought battle with the disease. It was here that Emma first experienced the compassionate support St Luke’s provides.
Following her mum’s death, Emma was supported by our counsellors and her dad Edgar (Eddie) Cliffe went on to become a valued volunteer with our Finance and Fundraising teams – his way of saying thank you for the care his wife received. Sadly just four years later Eddie also died in the special care of our Inpatient Unit.
Emma's parents
Barbara and Eddie Cliffe
Emma reflects: “St Luke’s has been here for me for so many years, supporting me through loss and now through my own treatment. I didn’t mourn properly for my mum until after my dad died, and then I lived in terror of it happening to me next because screening revealed I also carry the BRCA2 gene which my mum had. Through it all St Luke’s has been by my side.”
Since her own cancer treatment, Emma has been supported by our complementary therapy clinics and most recently our Relaxation Plus programme, which she says is helping her to move forwards.
“It’s just absolutely first class, it’s like a family. Everybody is just amazingly caring and I’m really in my comfort zone. This part is as important as the treatment because moving forwards it’s like a different life, you don’t go back to what you were. It’s adapting to what your ‘new you’ is. You’re a new version of yourself and St Luke’s has massively helped with that.”
Help us to be there for families like Emma's, now and in the future, by becoming a regular giver. Visit www.slhospice.co.uk/regulardonation
Emma with complementary therapist Yvonne Singh
The difference your support makes
Our Spring into Summer Raffle is one of the easiest ways to support patient care at the Hospice. Every ticket sold will help fund the care of patients, like Les and Lynn Fearn from Crewe.
The couple, who have been married for 37 years, first turned to St Luke’s after Les was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2023. Following surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, Les was referred to our Day Hospice for additional support. As part of his recovery, he attended our Wellbeing Days which provide help to manage symptoms, gain confidence at home and maximise quality of life. In addition, Lynn, as Les's carer, was offered complementary therapies to help her manage the emotional and physical challenges of caregiving.
However, the couple were dealt a double blow when, just months into Les’s treatment, Lynn was also diagnosed with cancer. Lynn reflects, “You never think it is going to happen to you. If the Hospice wasn’t here, I don’t know how we’d have coped, really. When you’re first diagnosed, you feel like you are the only ones going through it, but the
Hospice has supported us in so many ways and helped us navigate our way through it all and plan for the future.
“The staff are second to none; they can’t do enough for you. Sometimes they’ve noticed I’m not quite on par, even if I haven’t realised it myself, and they see what they can do to help. They’re so good at what they do.”
The couple has also received support with counselling and benefits advice. Lynn shared how the benefits advisor has been invaluable in guiding them through the maze of forms and allowances, ensuring they receive the support they are entitled to. "We’re so grateful for everything St. Luke’s has and continues to offer us,” Lynn says.
To support local families like Les and Lynn, enter our Spring into Summer Raffle today for just £1 a ticket at www.slhospice.co.uk/summerraffle
Lynn and Les with Health Care
Assistant Marie Clark and Nurse Associate Sue Spence
This is Hospice Care
Help it live on for all, for now, forever.
We're proud to be one of 143 hospices taking part in the 'This is Hospice Care' campaign, a national initiative facilitated by Hospice UK.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of the vital role hospices play in communities and to shift public perceptions of hospice care. You may have already seen a powerful TV advert based on real life hospice stories, which launched the campaign.
For many of us, a hospice will touch our lives, whether for ourselves, a loved one, or a friend, providing
comfort, dignity, and expert care through life's most challenging times. But just as this incredible support wouldn't exist without hospices across the UK, hospice care wouldn't exist without you.
We're asking everyone to consider leaving a Gift in their Will to a hospice close to their heart. By doing so, you can help us continue to provide this vital care, ensuring that everyone has the support they need for generations to come.
Together, we can make sure that hospice care lives on for all, for now, forever.
For more information about the This is Hospice Care campaign and to watch the TV advert please visit www.slhospice.co.uk/ giftinwill
Scan for more details
Hospice care is everything you'd expect, and everything you wouldn't....
It’s finality and uncertainty, brave faces and shedding tears. It’s short days and long nights. Living for now with the weight of tomorrow.
But it’s also love and life and celebration. It’s care at home, and in the hospice, care for those dying and for those around them. It’s going the extra mile, doing away with convention and remembering what really matters. It’s easing pain and bringing comfort, cherishing memories and creating new ones. It’s allowing anyone, anywhere, to embrace the life we have left.
Every Gift in a Will, however large or small, will make a difference to the lives of local people.
For example, a gift of just 1% in your Will to St Luke's will make a difference to future patient care and ensures those closest to you receive the remaining 99%.
To leave a Gift in your Will to the Hospice all your solicitor needs is:
• The name of our charity'St Luke's Cheshire Hospice'
• Our registered charity number515595
Hospice care is free at the point of use. But, unlike the NHS, it is not fully state funded. In fact do you know that St Luke's receives just 16% of its funding from the government?
With rising costs and growing demand for hospice services, gifts in wills are more important to us than ever.
A Gift in your Will can help make sure hospices like ours can continue to offer compassionate, free care to hundreds of people and their families each year, now and in the future.
Find out how you can help hospice care live on for all, for now, forever at www.slhospice.co.uk/giftinwill
Care for a Cuppa
Celebrate your community and support your local Hospice by hosting a Care for a Cuppa event in aid of St Luke’s. This is the perfect opportunity to get your friends, family, work colleagues or members of the local community together to socialise, have fun and enjoy some coffee and cake (guilt free!).
When you sign up through our website, you’ll receive a fundraising pack full of recipes, invitations, posters and other useful tips and tricks to help make your event a fundraising success.
By hosting your own Care for a Cuppa event, you are ensuring that local people can receive the care they need at a time when it matters most.
Whatever you raise, it will truly make a difference.
For more information about hosting a Care for a Cuppa event please visit www.slhospice.co.uk/ fundraising/care-for-a-cuppa/
Young Fundraisers
We never cease to be amazed by the wonderful people who fundraise for the Hospice, especially when those fundraisers are so young!
The kindness and commitment of our youngest supporters always touches our hearts, so we like to gift each of them with a special badge and certificate to highlight their amazing achievements.
We’d like to share with you just a few of the incredible young people who have kindly supported us recently…
10 year-old Jack Devine from Northwich took part in our Salt Line Cycle event in September 2024. A keen BMX rider, Jack completed the hardest route of 50 miles and raised an amazing £585 in sponsorship.
12 year-old Jasmine Slater from Haslington came up with an inventive way to support St Luke's. Jasmine made and sold doggy Christmas treats, and with the help of a local coffee shop, helped to raise £250 for patient care. Jasmine wanted to fundraise in memory of her nanna who was cared for by the Hospice.
Emily Suckling and her friends Margaux Waring and Thea Morris, raised money by baking cookies and making bracelets, selling them near their homes in Moulton. The girls, aged 11 and 12, wanted to support the Hospice after Emily’s mum Janette Suckling was cared for in her final days on our Inpatient Unit. Their creative approach to fundraising resulted in a donation of £216.19.
If you know a young person who would like to support the Hospice then contact our Community Team by emailing: community@slhospice.co.uk
Jack Devine pictured after completing the Salt Line Cycle
Jasmine Slater pictured with her mum at the Hospice
Emily Suckling, Thea Morris and Margaux Waring getting creative
