Autumn/Winter 2011 newsletter - Willen Hospice

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message from paul hinson The 30th Anniversary of Willen Hospice is well on its way now and we have enjoyed such a lot of support at this special time. The celebration Pearl Ball in May was a big success and raised extra funds for our important work. The new Brand that I talked about in the last newsletter is now well established and working well for the Hospice. The focus of our work is the high quality care we provide for our patients and their families and friends. It is the holistic approach that is at the heart of all we do. This makes the work that is done by our Chaplaincy service and the Social Care Team, which includes the specialist areas of Family Support, Carers Support and Bereavement care, so very important. All of these areas are helped by teams of Volunteers who have undertaken training for this special type of caring. Volunteers form the backbone of the work of the Hospice. We have in excess of 650 people who give their time to support all that is needed at the Hospice, around our shops and with fundraising. This is not just a loving gift of care and support; it is also a financial saving for the Hospice because, without our Volunteers, we would have to pay to have this work done. We provide complex and individual care to terminally ill adults in our community and support to their families and friends. That brings me nicely on to things financial; you would be very surprised if I did not mention money in my message to you. I apologise, but it is the same old request. We need to raise over £3 million ourselves again this year and I am sorry to report that for the first time, the Primary Care Trust has reduced the amount we receive by 1.5%, as part of national efficiency savings for the NHS. That means we need even more from the local community, so if you can help by giving a little more that would be fantastic. Thank you for your ongoing support and keep focused on our vision: Total amount needed to run the Hospice this year: £4.12 million £m 4 3 Our vision is to be the lasting and thriving provider of free care to all people affected by life limiting illness in our community. This will be made possible by a community working together continually to share in the delivery of the most assuring, equally accessible and advanced care available. Always There to Care Total amount of funding received from NHS: 22.5% 2 1 Paul J Hinson Chief Executive 2
Bereavement Service and Family Support The Hospice Bereavement Support Team includes Fi Jones, (Bereavement Support Worker), Sue Whear, (Social Care Manager), and Amanda Cullens, (Macmillan Bereavement Co-ordinator), and a team of 13 bereavement volunteers. AMANDA CULLENS writes: The Hospice has traditionally had a bereavement service with volunteers offering individual support to adult carers and relatives following the death of their loved one, either at home or in the Hospice. My role is a new one which is kindly being funded by Macmillan and I have been with the Hospice since January 2011. My mission is to develop the current service available. Over the past six months I can honestly say the service has grown both in terms of what we are able to offer and the numbers of people currently accessing bereavement support. One of my first goals was to get a bereavement support group up and running. The need for this was voiced to me by many Hospice professionals and my work in the past had clearly shown the benefit of people joining together in a group to share their experiences and feelings as well as gain some social support. We now have a group of 10 people bereaved of their partners in the last few months meeting on a monthly basis in Day Hospice. The group are really feeling the benefit of coming together and supporting one another. This group will close to new members once the group membership reaches 12 and we will then open a second group. Numbers of people accessing our individual support has also nearly tripled since the end of the last year and I think this is due to a change in the way the service is being introduced. Rather than receiving information only by letter, the bereavement service is now offered by phone by a group of volunteers offering phone support every Thursday evening, once a referral has been received. This introduction is made in a kindly, gentle manner by asking the person how they are coping and letting them know that support is available in a variety of ways, if at any time, they would like to access it. Confirmation is still made by letter. We are also starting to re-contact people at around six month’s post bereavement as this is traditionally a time when people are known to start to struggle. With this in mind we will also be introducing an event called ‘Time to Remember’ for those bereaved approximately six months previously. This will be an opportunity to return to the Hospice for a short time on a Sunday afternoon to reflect on the life of their loved one, light a candle and gain some support over a cup of tea. There will also be a few readings to connect the group together although these will be of a non religious nature. We hope to offer this event four times per year. We have an ongoing telephone support service for those who wish to receive a regular phone call from one of our volunteers on a Thursday evening. This service is proving extremely popular and quite often bridges the gap for someone who is struggling but does not feel ready or does not want someone to visit them at home. During this period on a Thursday evening we also have one of our phones free which is used as a helpline. We are developing a befriending service on a short term basis for those people who do not want bereavement support but would like some help in returning to their day to day activities outside the home. With all this development it has been necessary to increase our volunteer team and we are currently training an additional group of 13 bereavement volunteers who are nearing completion of their 8 week training programme. All our volunteers receive regular ongoing training and monthly group supervision. We are very much looking forward to the group joining our existing team of volunteers which will enable us to develop the service even further and expand the number of family members and others to whom we are able to actively offer the service. Fi and I will also be able to undertake initial home visits, to all those requesting individual support so we can match the appropriate volunteer with the individual, something that to date resources have not allowed and will bring us into line with our other social care services. It really has been a very interesting first six months in post and I wonder what the next six will bring! 3
Page 1: www.willen-hospice.org.uk newslette
Page 5 and 6: Day Hospice patients have produced
Page 7 and 8: Herd kept mooving for the Midnight
Page 9 and 10: Volunteer’s Tea Party On Sunday 1
Page 11 and 12: Shop, Shop, Shop Willen Hospice sho

Autumn/Winter 2011 newsletter - Willen Hospice

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