FROM THE HEART
Welcome to our Spring 2025
From the Heart newsletter. It’s the time of year when we traditionally think of new beginnings and brighter days ahead.
As a hospice we strive to make every single moment of our patients’ lives as meaningful as they can be. Wherever we meet people in their journey we strongly believe that there is still time to celebrate life, create new memories and fondly reminisce while easing symptoms and bringing comfort.
The testimony of thousands of people down the years, patients,families,friends,supportersandcolleagues, who tell us that they feel we do this well is what helps to sustain us in our vocation.
Nowadays we support many more people in their own homes. Hospice at Home is a blend of carer support visits and personal care services. You can read a little bit more about the service and how it ticks in these pages.
One incredible way in which people continue to give to our hospice is through gifts in their Wills. It’s such an important funding stream for us and a truly humbling experience whenever we are notified that someone has chosen to reward us as part of their legacy.
Our annual Make a Will Month in April is supported by generous local solicitors who give up their time for free while asking you to make a kind donation to the hospice at less than half of their normal fee. Onpages8-9youcan investigatehowyoumightchoosetowriteorupdate yourWill.
You may have also seen the Hospice UK organised television campaign which launched on 17th February. We, alongside 142 other hospices in England, Scotland and Wales, supported the campaign to shine a spotlight on the massive difference that a gift in people’s Wills can make in protecting hospice care into the future. More about this campaignonPage10.
We will always strive to provide our specialist hospice care to the very best of our ability because of YOU, our whole Wirral community, individuals and organisations, who continue to support us in so many inspiring ways.
Thank you!
Please let me wish you all a splendid Springtime and a sunny (fingerscrossed) Summer ahead.
Helen
Helen Brown Chief Executive | Wirral Hospice St John’s
Luck of the Irish.
It’s more than luck - we can’t fit it all on this page
Marie Lynch, a registered nurse in our HospiceatHome team, is as Irish as shamrock. Along with colleagues in the HospiceatHomeEngineRoom* she liaises with organisations and other people involved with patient care in our Wirral community.
With a twinkle in her eye, she’s quick to laugh herself, or to make others laugh and you soon appreciate how she came, much-travelled, to her vocation.
Born in Tullamore, which is more or less in the very centre of Ireland, between Dublin in the east and Galway in the west, you may have expected her to settle for a country way of life. Possibly calmer, possibly more peaceful?
But no, Marie is MORE! Her mum and dad had inspired her. Irishman, Patrick, had hitchhiked all over the world before meeting Marie’s Irish mum, Christine, a nurse herself, in London in the 1950s.
Marie’s older siblings, Kevin and Annette, were born in London before Patrick and Christine decided to move back to Ireland. Waiting in Liverpool for the boat to take them home, Christine announced she was pregnant. Baby Marie was born on the 12th of May, which means she shares her birthday with FlorenceNightingale, the day we celebrate International NursesDay. Nice!
Two more sisters were to arrive, Pauline and Noelle, and Marie remembers a childhood full of fun and wonder. The children were all members of a brass band, Marie can play the French horn, and they’d perform at events all around Ireland.
Marie was a tall teenager and good at sports, running, basketball, netball and swimming. She had an ability to maybe consider life as an athlete, but her mum talked her into studying for a vocation in nursing,
Becauseifyouhaveaprofession,it’s somethingyouwillhaveforlife.
Wise words.
So in 1983, the year Wirral Hospice St John’s was launched incidentally, Marie qualified as a registered nurse at Bagot Street Hospital in Dublin. Happy days!
It’s forty years on now, sorryMarie! We’ll try and explain her nursing journey, without precise timings, so here goes,
Soon after qualifying, Marie’s inherited wanderlust would kick in and she went off to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, nursing near the border with Jordan.
After a while she was off again, to London, buzzing to and fro on her Vespa (nicknamed WASPY because it was yellow) and working at Northwick hospital in Harrow.
Then, the USA called. An application to the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing (CGFNS) was successful and Marie found herself, although she had a yen to live in California, at St Barnabas in the Bronx, New York. Another year followed at Flushing in Queens before Marie took on ‘travelling nurse’ status and, via Chicago, arrived at her dream destination, Venice Beach in California. WOW!
By now Marie was beginning to take a professional interest in supporting people recovering from drugs and alcohol dependency. Another hop, to Bexleyheath, in Kent, brought a DNB 620 (an additional nursing qualification) in the discipline and Marie was ready to move on again. To Australia
An avowed Evertonian, Marie is delighted to recall that she used to walk to her job at a hospital called StJohnofGod along EvertonRoad in Sydney and it makes her smile to think of it. (ShemighthavemissedtheLiverpudlianconnotationof StJohn?HaHa!)
After three years in Oz, Marie decided there was no place like home. Well nearly, she’s always loved England and the sense of humour of English people, so she came here to set up a drug and alcohol dependency service in Blackpool.
We’ve only reached the 1990s here, so we’ll direct you to Page 5, Column 2, where we continue Maries story, and how she is now a big part of our Hospice at Home family.
Home is where the Heart is Home Hospice at
During a year, our HospiceatHometeam will make more than 8,000 visits across the Wirral to patients in their own homes.
It’s a monumental effort to make sure every patient who is supported by our specialist service is seen at all of the times we agree with them and their families.
There’s always a buzz backatbase. While our health care assistants (HCAs) are out and about in the community doing what they do best, the HospiceatHomeEngine Roomkeeps the wheels turning.
Bev and Jane are the highly organised administrators, while care coordinators, Chris and Sarah (who is currently covering maternity leave for our colleague Hayley), arrange
Home Support Visits
Bravingallweathers
the logistics for Hospice at Home services and, because of their experience as HCAs, can step in to cover the teams during holiday and other absences.
Hannah, Marie and Vikki, the deputy community services manager, are registered nurses who liaise with all of those other people involved in individual patients’ health care; consultants, GPs, community nurses, care agencies, hospital discharge teams and other departments in the hospice itself.
It’s a hive of activity which helps to make sure that our HospiceatHomeHCAs are always in the right place to deliver their specialist care, supporting patients to remain at home and to live as well as possible, with life-limiting illnesses.
Our home support visits team have been providing friendly companionship to people living at home with life-limiting illnesses for many years.
HCAs provide weekly visits, sometimes more, for up to three hours in the daytime and for twelve hours overnight, so that family members can have some respite and recharge their batteries.
This enables people’s carers to go out for a couple of hours shopping, or to work, or to meet other relatives and friends. Some may use the sympathetic ear of the HCA for support, maybe to talk through their own thoughts and worries.
The overnight sits (provided in partnership with Marie Curie) allow family or carers, to get a good night’s rest.
Thank you to the support visits team. They are Barbara, Dawn, Maureen, Gaynor and Tracy on days, and, Helen, Jane and Karen on nights.
The Engine Room
Luck of the Irish.
Marie’s story continued from page 3.
So, where were we? Oh yes, the 1990s.
In 1997 Marie was married to David, Mr Lynch, and they have five children, Ben, Samantha, Steven, Daniel and Josh.
Home Personal Care Service
Our personal care support service has become established over the past two years with an abundantly enthusiastic, experienced, and thoroughly lovely team of HCAs who visit in pairs, seven days a week to patients, thought to be in the last few weeks of life.
Three times a day between 8.30 am and 8.30pm, their very practical support may include preparing a simple meal, washing, toileting and changing the bed to make sure each patient is as clean and comfortable as possible. Everything is delivered in the hospice way with care, compassion, and whenever appropriate, a touch of humour. Patients who are supported by our personal care service may have previously accessed other hospice services, but many are new to us. The availability of our personal care support can enable people to come home from hospital or prevent the need to go into hospital or a nursing home so they can live out their lives in their own home.
Referrals to both HospiceatHomeservices are usually made by community nurses, and the hospital discharge team, but other health care professionals including GPs and Macmillan nurses can also make referrals. Thank you also to our personal care services team. Take a bow, Amanda, Dawn, Emma, Joanne, Julie, Kerri, Kirsti, Leanne, Lin, Nicola, Sam and Sami. We think our Hospice at Home army is amazing but don’t take our word for it - this is what our families tell us, in their own words, in feedback at, iwantgreatcare.org/trusts/wirral-hospice-st-johns
“The nurses attending our home treated both my partner (patient) and myself (carer) with so much respect.”
“All the carers are amazing. They show care and attention to a very high level. My husband’s smile says it all.”
“They’re always on time and very friendly”.
“The health care assistants are most professional and have established a lovely relationship with my wife. They’re generous with their time and give me great support also”.
“We are so grateful for the Hospice at Home service. Not only does it provide respite, it’s also good for dad to have someone other than family to talk to.”
“The carers who come to sit with my husband are patient, kind and understanding. They very quickly identified his needs and they do everything to meet them. Mainly he wants to talk about anything and everything, and they do this with enthusiasm. They always come up with something that interests him and he’s so keen to tell me about it when I return home. I cannot thank them enough for what they do.”
As well as balancing a growing family, Marie has been a ward sister at the HoylakeCottageHospital, taken a teaching degree so that she could inspire young people through an access to nursing qualification at Wirral Met College and was also a specialist chemotherapy nurse at Clatterbridge.
It was sadness in her own life that inspired her to apply to work for our hospice. Marie nursed her youngest sister, Noelle (who had previously moved across the world, to Bali), through the final five months of her cancer journey at Marie’s home in Bebington.
It did, as it would, have a profound effect on Marie and it brought her to where she is now, working in our Hospice at Home care service. I wanted to be able to be part of something that could help people in the final stages of their illnesses to have as positive and dignified an experience as possible. So I was delighted when around 18 months ago I joined the team.
They really are the most special, dedicated people you could wish to work with. As well as liaising with the other people involved in palliative care in the community I get to see our hospice care at first hand in people’s homes. I have loved my life and I really enjoy this job.
You have a great affect on all of us at the hospice, Marie. You didn’t tell us if you’d kissed the Blarney Stone or not? Must have!
Thank you, Marie!
Three Peaks Challenge! Stuart’s much more than a
Stuart Beeston’s dad, Malcolm, was supported by our Hospice at Home team in the last week of his life and, though it was only for a short period of time, he really cannot speak highly enough about the care his dad received.
Malcolm had said, “I don’t need to go to heaven; I’ve got my angels here.”
It’s a heartfelt sentiment which has stayed with Stuart and why he’s now going to embark on a sensational More Than Three Peaks Challenge later this year.
The staff were so attentive to my beloved dad that I resolved straightaway that I wanted to do something special in memory of him and to raise some funds for the awesome people at Wirral Hospice St John’s.
So, at dawn on 29th August this year, I’m going to be at the summit of Ben Nevis in Scotland setting off on a mammoth 1000kilometre, plus, journey on foot, bike and kayak. My route will take me south from Scotland, through Glasgow to Edinburgh, then down and across the north of England, via mountain, road, loch, sea, and canal, then over Scafell Pike in the Lake District and onwards towards Bridlington on the east coast.
Back west along the Leeds/Liverpool canal before the final bike ride over to Snowdon with a target of finishing at the peak at dusk, hopefully around the 14th September.
It’s the Three Peaks Challenge, with knobs on! Stuart’s well equipped for it. He’s already led massive challenges at Kilimanjaro, the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, several trips into the Himalayas, and other adventures taking in deserts and jungles around the globe. He’s a rope rescue specialist, a member of BritishCycling, a MountainLeader who is fully trained, and trains others, in rock climbing and mountain biking.
Wow. Incredible!
If you’d like to sponsor Stuart to help him raise those vital funds for Wirral Hospice St John’s please visit justgiving.com/page/ stuartbeeston
You can also read a bit more about Malcolm and Stuart at our website at wirralhospice.org/ stuartbeeston
Stuart’s wife, Tracey, and daughter, Sophie, will be his support team for the trip, while his older daughter, Jess, will also be supporting with the ongoing administration back home.
Tracey will be handling logistics and accommodation, making sure the van is ready at each stop /start destination with bike, kayak, footwear and appropriate clothing at the ready.
Sophie is going to join Stuart for some of the challenges (before she heads back to Uni in September) and will be chronicling with camera phone and social media her dad’s progress.
We’ll be keeping an eye out and sharing Stuart’s Much More Than A Three Peaks Challenge as it progresses later in the year but for now we’d just like to say, Best of British, Stuart. We’re with you all the way!
Stu’s mum, Brenda, with dad, Malcolm
A lasting legacy
Ian Cant, Wallasey born and bred, was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in October 2022, after a small lump, which had begun on his tonsil, had grown visible in his neck. The news was even more upsetting for Ian and his family as the cancer had also metastasised into his lungs and spine.
It was explained straightaway that Ian’s illness was progressive and that his treatment would be palliative.
Ian’s older sister, Sandra, and his twin sister, Debbie, both lived ‘down south’ in West Sussex and Bath respectively, and they spent the next eighteen months up and down from the South East and South West to support Ian, together with their mum and dad, Colette and Frank, and Ian’s two grown up children Jacob and Sophie.
Sandra describes their family and their experiences in more detail at wirralhospice.org/iancant but here below, she describes his and the family’s hospice experience.
Under the care of the hospice’s palliative care consultant, Dr Helen Emms, it was agreed with Ian and the family that if a bed became available on Wirral Hospice inpatients ward, Ian would transfer there for specialist care and support.
Despite some initial worry Ian immediately embraced hospice care. The whole team were fantastic. Doctors, nurses, health care assistants, domestic and kitchen staff, helped by volunteers, made Ian feel right at home.
Occupational therapist, Katy, and physiotherapist, Miriam, soon had Ian able to use the Sara Stedy (Standing and Raising Aid) so that he could get out of bed and into his wheelchair. Ian loved his food. We would take some of his favourite treats in to the hospice, but they also provided excellent food and would offer him lots of choice and seconds if he wanted it.
He was able to have soothing hand massages with lovely complementary therapy volunteer, Helen, and as close family, our dad, Frank, and I were offered and accepted this wonderful service too.
I also received some really helpful counselling support from the brilliant Elizabeth.
Dad, and all the family would sit with Ian during the day taking it in turns, or often sitting in a big group, to take him for a visit to the hospice’s friendly Hub café.
Sophie and Jacob had taken time off from work to be with their dad, play music to him, read to him or just sit holding his hand. It may sound strange, but Ian was
Ianwithhisdad,Frank
comfortable and seemed a lot less stressed throughout his hospice stay. It was a calm and soothing place, they were always checking on him, offering a relaxing bath or massage and managing his pain. We, as a family couldn’t have managed without the support.
Ian passed away on 22nd April, 2024 around 8pm and we were all with him.
It was surreal but he was now at peace. The whole family was heartbroken.
As things must, life goes on. We were so grateful for the kind, loving care we received both before and after Ian’s passing that we resolved to do whatever we could to support our incredible hospice.
We set up a tribute site for Ian with MuchLovedwhich allows friends and family to make a donation in his memory https://iancant.muchloved.com/
Ian also gifted money to the hospice in his Will and we passed on some of what he left us too.
We all sponsored a light in Ian’s name for the hospice’s Light up a Life commemorations, and we attended the lights switch-on in December. It felt so right to be among so many people both remembering and celebrating the lives of their loved ones.
We will keep contributing and making ongoing donations to the hospice as we know how important it was to ‘our Ian’ and to all of us as it made his passing so much more bearable. We all miss him dearly.
Ian was so clearly very special to you all, Sandra. Everyone at Wirral Hospice St John’s is so grateful for all of the lovely things you said about us and all of the kind donations your family makes to help us.
A heartfelt ThankYoufrom the bottom of our hearts.
People support Wirral Hospice in so many kind ways as described in Ian’s story above. If you would like to leave us a donation in your Will and/or if you would like help to set up a MuchLoved tribute site for a loved one please contact fundraising@wirralhospice.org and our friendly team will be only too happy to help.
Aprilis Month MakeaWill
Wirral Hospice St John’s provides its nursing care and specialist support services, free of charge, to patients whose illnesses have progressed beyond a cure, alongside appropriate support for their loved ones too.
It costs more than £6million each year to provide our care and this is only possible through the ongoing support of our whole Wirral community, individuals, businesses and other organisations, who continue to support the hospice in so many ways.
Howmuchdoesitcost?
The legal firms who partner the hospice in Make a Will Month offer their valuable time and waive normal fees for their Will-writingservices. At a significant discount to the normal cost, they ask people for a suggested, and kind, donation of just £120 for a basic single Will (normallyit wouldbe£350+)or £170 for a basic double Will (normally £500+)which goes directly to Wirral Hospice.
Make a Will Month
MakeaWillMonth offers people the security of knowing that all of their assets will go exactly where they wish them to when they’re no longer around.
Each April, a host of Wirral solicitors partner with Wirral Hospice St John’s to offer people the chance to make a new Will, or revise their old one.
Appointments fill up really quickly, so an early booking is strongly advised and supporters are encouraged to email the hospice fundraising office at fundraising@wirralhospice.org in March for a list of partner solicitors and a voucher to obtain an appointment.
When making a booking, the solicitor will take some outline details and then send out an initial form to fill in so that the main issues to be addressed in the Will are covered.
Whymakeawill?
It’s natural for people to believe there’s plenty of time before they have to take this important step, but experience tells us that it’s never too early. If a Will is not officially drawn up then assets may be subject to processes under the law which may have potentially negative repercussions for loved ones for many years.
There may already be a Will in place but major changes can happen in life, including marriage, divorce, having children or even the death of a loved one, which can potentially invalidate some, or all, of a current Will.
Unmarried partners or those who have not registered a civil partnership cannot inherit from each other unless there is a Will in place. Homeowners and people with dependent children are especially encouraged to have an up-to-date Will.
Didknow?you
The care and support given to 1 in 5 of Wirral Hospice patients is made possible by the kind gifts left in people’s Wills.
Legacies
Legacies have become a significant part of hospice income and, although amounts greatly vary according to people’s circumstances, Wirral Hospice St John’s is extremely grateful when people choose to leave a gift of any size.
Anything that is left to charity is not counted towards the total taxable value of your estate and if you leave at least 10% of your ‘net estate’ to a charity it can cut inheritance tax from 40% to 36% where that may be applicable.
There are different ways of leaving a gift in your Will;
Residual legacy: A gift of the remainder or share of your estate, after all your other gifts are given and any debts cleared. You could leave anything between 1% to 100%.
Pecuniary legacy: A gift of a fixed sum of money.
Specific legacy: A gift of a particular named item such as jewellery, a painting, a car or shares.
Julia Evans who oversees Make a Will Month for the hospice says,
Would you like to arrange a visit so that you can see the kind of services that leaving a gift in your Will can safeguard into the future? For more information, a voucher for Make a Will Month and a list of solicitors, please contact Julia Evans at Wirral Hospice St John's in the following ways; Call: 0151 343 0778 or email: fundraising@wirralhospice.org You can also find details at wirralhospice.org/makeawill
We are so grateful to our partner solicitors for waiving their fees and for all those people who take that opportunity to make a kind donation to the hospice. We can help you locate the closest available partner solicitor for completing your Will. Once you’ve contacted the solicitor, they’ll send you a simple form to fill in from the comfort of your own home. Once you have made those decisions on where your estate will go, and your family have been provided for, please consider leaving a gift to Wirral Hospice St John’s.
In February you may have seen the This is Hospice Care television campaign, also supported on our own website and social media channels.
In a groundbreaking collaboration between 143 hospices across England, Scotland, and Wales, Wirral Hospice St John’s is part of a national push facilitated by HospiceUKto raise awareness of hospice care and to ask people to consider leaving a gift in their Will to their own local hospice.
Coming together means that hospices can try to compete for what the marketing experts call share of voice against some of the national charities who we know have much deeper pockets to mount their national advertising efforts. Hospices like ours are at the very heart of local communities, offering compassionate care and support when people need it most. A hospice touches many lives, including patients, their loved ones and friends, providing comfort, dignity, and expert care through the most challenging times.
Wirral Hospice St John’s runs Make a Will Month each April to give people an opportunity to make a Will for a kind donation to the hospice at less than half the normal rate as the participating solicitors waive their own fees. More details are on pages 8 and 9 of this publication.
Such incredible support wouldn't exist without hospices across the UK and, likewise, hospice care wouldn't exist without all of YOU!
We know people donate in so many kind ways, with Gifts in Wills now contributing to around 20% of our income and therefore the specialist care we deliver for 1 in 5 of our patients.
That's why we've come together to shine a light on the essential role hospices play in our communities, to protect their futures and to ask once more that you consider leaving a gift in your Will so we can continue to provide our 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.
To see the national television commercial, This is Hospice Care, please visit wirralhospice.org/ giftinwill
Alison’s Arctic Adventure for the Hospice
Q. What would occupy an occupational therapist?
A. A swim in the Arctic Circle across two time zones? Yes, that’s what Alison Martin, who shares OT duties at the hospice with colleague, Katy, is going to be doing in 2025.
Wowser!
Alison’s booked for the event SwimtheArcticCircletaking place on 12th July which is just the small matter of swimming between Sweden and Finland in the River Torne and is, as the name says, in THEArcticCircle. So, pretty chilly, even in July.
Furthermore, she’s entered both a daytime 2000m (2km) swim and later the same day, midnight, the 3000m (3km) swim which takes her across borders and time zones. If she completes the 3km in less than an hour she will technically finish before her start time. Mind-boggling!
Now, you’d expect this to be meat and drink to a keen chilly dipper but, the fact is, Alison has never swum more than a couple of hundred metres in open water and, five months to go, is currently taking swimming lessons to improve her front crawl technique.
Wait... WHAT?
To be fair, Alison’s a regular with the WirralBluetitsChill Swimmerssince May 2021, so her frequent meets at LeasoweBay, in the cold IrishSea, where Alison says she “splashes around a little,” will have more than
prepared her for the plunge in what might be a cool 16-19 degrees centigrade. (15°C and less is officially cold!)
Did anyone mention that Alison... …was once caught up in a riptide at LeasoweBay? That a rescue helicopter, which was sent to assist because the boat would have taken too long, landed just as four or five other strong swimmers had scrambled her to the shore? That she needed treatment for hypothermia?
No? Well, it happened!
And still, a little more cautious nowadays, Alison and friends, Sarah and Wendy who are joining her in Lapland (they won’t see Santa in July) enjoy “swimberling” (dipping and bobbing around) the Wirral coast.
Alison is paying her own way for the challenge and is ultra determined that she will, with her little mascot, Swimberling. Mini.Me(picturedontheleft),achieve it while raising vital funds for the hospice.
Thank you somuchAlison and, as Dory sings in Finding Nemo… just keep swimming, swimming, swimming!!
If you’d like to sponsor Alison for her chilly Arctic Circle swim there’s a link at justgiving.com/page/ alisonmartinarcticswim
To learn a little more about occupational therapy services at Wirral Hospice St John’s please visit wirralhospice.org/ occupationaltherapy
Pre-loved nearly new brand new re-loved and, sometimes
The headline describes our charity shops themselves as well as the absolutely brilliant pre-loved quality items that our supporters regularly donate to them.
As you may know, we have ten charity shops adding choice for our customers all around the Wirral.
In alphabetical order they’re at Bebington, Birkenhead, Bromborough Allport Road, Bromborough Croft Trade Park, Claughton, Heswall, Liscard, Moreton, New Brighton and West Kirby
And soon, watch this space, there may be more in the pipeline!
Thousands of items of pre-loved furniture, three-piece suites, sofas, occasional chairs, wardrobes, beds, bedside cabinets, tables & chairs, clothing, accessories, bric-abrac and more, are sorted for sale, then priced and displayed, invitingly, around each shop.
Collections, and delivery for a small charge, of LARGER items of good quality furniture can be arranged by calling the hospice van team on 0151 334 2558
Please remember to keep your fire labels on furnishings.
Our Heswall charity shop volunteer, Beryl, has a
tale as old as time.
At only 94, Beryl Kenrick (pictured on the right here) is a dedicated and cherished member of our Heswall charity shop volunteer team.
For the past ten years she’s been greeting our customers and her fellow volunteers alike, with a huge smile and a warm hello.
She’s a great-grandmother to her daughter, Lorraine’s, grandchildren who have all settled in Somerset. She keeps in touch and keeps treasured photos on the mobile phone that her son, Roger, bought her.
Beryl’s hobbies, and volunteering at Heswall, have expanded her friendship group and she tells us it’s what helps to keep her fit and well,
On Monday’s I go to a class called‘Create’for painting and crafting. At Christmas we created a joyous hanging decoration. We glue two CDs together and decorate them with festive stickers. Then, by threading a colourful ribbon through the middle you have a dazzling feature piece.
I love volunteering at the charity shop and it means I meet more people and, of course, knowing we’re helping our wonderful hospice makes it all the more worthwhile.
All my volunteer colleagues and Rachel, the shop manager, are all so lovely. Beryl, you are simply a superstar! Many thanks for all you do for Wirral Hospice St John’s.
Read how Beryl met her husband, Eryl, at wirralhospice.org/ berylkenrick
Donations
Donations
Nice Van Man. Allan’s in more than two places at once
If you were a frequent visitor to any of our ten charity shops you have got every chance of seeing Allan Jones, our big retail van driver. Thevan’sbigandsois Allan;about6feettall!HaHa!
On a given day he might be co-piloting with colleagues, Theo or Jordan, and be picking up, and dropping off, the larger items of furniture that have been donated or bought by people from all around our Wirral community.
Sometimes furniture may have been displayed in one of the shops for a couple of weeks and needs to be moved to another site to give it another chance to sell and a number of these will go on the daily van load for distribution to their next destination.
It’s a busy job, requiring endurance and strength, and after 27 years of moving heavy goods on and off the hospice vans, Allan is well equipped for the challenge.
In fact, just a couple of years back he completed a unique challenge for the hospice for his 59th birthday. Allan completed 59 reps in under a minute consisting of wide grip and close grip pull ups, parallel bar dips and push ups. It was awesome and raised a tidy sum for his beloved hospice. Cheers Allan.
We’ve told Allan’s longer story at our website at wirralhospice.org/allanjones where you can learn all about how he was a DJ in his spare time in a time before DJs were the stars!
Quality is available at all of our charity shops but often we do come across special items that we feel deserve to feature on our ebay pages which might command a slightly higher premium for the hospice.
Branded clothing and shoes, sometimes hardly or never worn, valuable collections of books and sports memorabilia, even original art or antiques, designer handbags and much more are often listed for us at ebay.co.uk/str/wirralhospice
Don’t forget to
If you pay tax in the UK, just like if you give a regular cash gift to the hospice, all items donated to our charity shops and/or ebay become eligible for Gift Aid. This means your donation could be worth an extra 25% to the hospice.
If you’re happy to help us with Gift Aid on your donations the team may ask you to fill in a really quick form to confirm you’re happy to help us claim GiftAid.
To find out more about all of our retail services please visit wirralhospice.org/shopping and if you’d like to become a volunteer please email volunteering@wirralhospice.org and we’ll send out the relevant information
A chance to win, a way to care…
Around 15,000 people are now members of our weekly lottery. Each entry costs only £1 per week which helps the hospice to fund the equivalent of 12-15 specialist nurses every year. If you’d like to join our weekly lottery please get in touch with our friendly team on 0151 334 0348 or email lottery@wirralhospice.org
Helps pay for 12-15 nurses each year
Top prize £2,000! guaranteed each week
Rollover climbs up to £10,000!
Lottery players must be aged 18 or older
Please gamble responsibly
34 cash prizes weekly
Wirral Hospice is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission under account number 4098 I registers.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/4098
Find more information at wirralhospice.org/lottery
Lottery Wedding Favours
TREAT YOUR GUESTS ON YOUR BIG DAY
Are you or a family member, or maybe some friends, getting married in 2025? If so, as a favour, please consider giving all your guests a number in our weekly lottery for the following week.
Lots of lovely newly-weds have added this treat to their special day and, on occasion, we’ve also had some winners from the wedding parties. One day it might be the £2,000! We can provide the happy couple with some lovely, personalised, table cards as another ‘favour’ for your guests AND, for much younger guests, as you must be over 18 to play, an appropriate kids activity pack to keep them amused.
WirralHospiceStJohn’snursesarethere toprovidecare,supportandhope.
WirralHospice’slotteryhelpstofund 12-15specialistnurseseachyear.
Get in touch with Kate in our lottery team on 0151 334 0348 and she’ll be delighted to work through some ideas with you. Find out a little more at wirralhospice.org/ lotteryweddingfavours
Soaswellasbeinginwithachanceof winningsomebigcashprizes, asalotterymember(forjust£1aweek) youcanmakeahugedifferencetothe careandsupportweprovideto ourpatientsandtheirlovedones. Tojoin:01513340348 www.wirralhospice.org/lottery Licencedbywww.gamblingcommission.gov.ukwirralhospice.org RegisteredCharityNo.510643
celebratingthemarriageof
Agiftthatmakesadifference onSaturday26thJuly2025
WilliamandCatherine
WirralHospiceStJohn’snursesarethere toprovidecare,supportandhope.
WirralHospice’slotteryhelpstofund 12-15specialistnurseseachyear.
Soaswellasbeinginwithachanceof winningsomebigcashprizes, asalotterymember(forjust£1aweek) youcanmakeahugedifferencetothe careandsupportweprovideto ourpatientsandtheirlovedones.
If you’d like one or a number of £1 a week memberships or lottery wedding favours, you can find more details at wirralhospice.org/lottery where you will also find all of our lottery terms and conditions.
Tojoin:01513340348 www.wirralhospice.org/lottery Licencedbywww.gamblingcommission.gov.uk wirralhospice.org RegisteredCharityNo.510643
celebratingthemarriageof
WilliamandCatherine
Agiftthatmakesadifference onSaturday26thJuly2025
wirralhospicestjohns wirralhospice
As constant as the North Star
Our dedicated nursing teams are a key part of the care we provide to our patients and their loved ones throughout every step of their journey with the hospice.
Our nursing teams include our registered nurses and health care assistants who look after patients in our inpatient ward, Wellbeing Centre, outpatients and in patients’ homes through our Hospice at Home service. We spoke to some of our nurses and health care assistants about why they are nurses and what they love about the hospice…
Meet Cheryl, health care assistant
“Hello, my name is Cheryl and I am a health care assistant in our outpatients department.
I have worked at the hospice for going on six years now and I’m so proud to work where there is such a welcoming, kind, caring and friendly atmosphere.
Meet Ryan, deputy community services manager
“For me, this really is the best place to work as a nurse. I really love it. Everyone, all around the hospice, makes sure that our patients get the best quality of life possible given their challenging conditions. As our Wellbeing Centre team leader I get to know them all, as well as their families and friends.
Often we’re laughing as we engage in our group activities, but we’re also there if people need a confidential, heart to heart, chat.
Meet
Rachel,
ward sister
“I love working at our hospice. Staying hands-on and patient contact is what motivates me and all the team. The reason we came into nursing was to serve patients and the better we know them as people, the easier it makes it to care for and support them appropriately.
a nurse sponsor
Wirral Hospice St John’s has an amazing group of supporters who ‘sponsor a nurse’ and make a regular monthly, six monthly or annual donation to our hospice.
Our patients really are at the heart of all we do and everybody has a passion to make sure they have the best experience of hospice services that they possibly can.
I really would not change my job for the world!”
We are here to help people find their natural resilience. We’ll make sure that people can access a range of services; counselling, spiritual support, physiotherapy, social work, where necessary, occupational therapy, relaxation and breathing exercises and other complementary therapies which helps them cope with potential anxiety.
The very best professionals are here and I know I can call on any and all of them to support our patients and their families to live well given their individual challenges.”
People ask me about the most essential quality you need to work in a hospice, and I think it is empathy.
We’re all people, we too have families and know what it is to go through challenging times. When you embrace empathy everything else makes absolute sense.”
In the last year, regular donations such as these have enabled us to provide the equivalent of two months of specialist hospice care and have helped us to plan ahead with a little more certainty, making such a difference here at the hospice, helping our dedicated nursing team to care for our patients and their families when they need us.
Supporters who sign up to ‘sponsor a nurse’ can donate from £5 per month and will receive a welcome pack, with a thank you card and a sponsor a nurse pin badge in thanks for their ongoing support.
To sponsor a nurse, please call 0151 343 0778 or email fundraising@wirralhospice.org
Alternatively visit our website wirralhospice.org/sponsoranurse or scan the QR code to make a monthly donation via just giving or to download a standing order form.
If you received this newsletter in the post, you can also sponsor a nurse by returning the standing order form at the bottom of your letter
To all those who make that regular donation to sponsor a nurse, thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts. Your ongoing support makes such a difference and really means the world to us.
Caring for and supporting our patients and their families, at the hospice and in the community, involves a team of dedicated staff including, all of our nurses, health care assistants, our palliative care consultants, doctors, domestic and catering teams, social workers, spiritual coordinators, complementary, physical and occupational therapists, counsellors, bereavement supporters, facilities, finance, administrative, fundraising and retail teams who are all supported, where and when appropriate, by the most dedicated volunteers.
Life at the hospice goes on because the people in our Wirral community, and some who have moved away for new opportunities in life, continue to value the work we do and make their kind and thoughtful donations.
We are eternally grateful!
How we raise our funds
There are now ten Wirral Hospice charity shops all around our Wirral peninsula that rely on donations of quality pre-loved items and people continuing to buy the bargain items that we have on sale. Sometimes of a higher value via our eBay page: wirralhospice.org/shopping
Join around 15,000 weekly members of our lottery for a chance to win the top prize of £2,000 every week or, if the second prize rolls for 20 weeks, maybe £10,000! wirralhospice.org/lottery
We are so grateful to people who make a one-off or a regular gift to the hospice. There are a number of ways you can consider doing this by visiting wirralhospice.org/givingdonations and if you are considering leaving us a legacy donation, that page is at wirralhospice.org/giftinwill
There are a whole host of fundraising ideas and opportunities so please have a browse at wirralhospice.org/eventsandcompanies for other ways to get involved and maybe raise some sponsorship.
To speak with a member of our team
please call the fundraising office on 0151 343 0778