An appeal to help build a new wellbeing hub with treatment and therapy rooms, a garden, and a lounge and kitchen in Boston by St Barnabas Hospice has already hit nearly £70,000 thanks to generous donations.
The Hospice launched an appeal just a month ago to raise almost a quarter-of-a-million pounds (£234,250) to fund the essential works.
Head of Wellbeing Services at the hospice, Mandy Irons, said: “We are delighted by the public support given to the Boston Wellbeing Hub; in total to date we have raised £63,958 in much-needed donations from the public.
“We hope these donations will soon reach £100,000, as a very generous Charitable Trust has agreed to match-fund up to this amount.
“With a total of more than £40,000 received in gift aid and grants, this added to the public donations brings the overall figure raised to £104,736. We are confident our appeal total of £234,250 will be reached in the coming months.”
Mandy added: “We’re really excited to see so much being raised already. Novak House as we’re calling the new development will truly be a community hub for Boston and the south east of the county. With the project being well on the way, it’s going to be a welcoming environment that doesn’t feel clinical. It’s really going to encompass a holistic approach and not just for palliative care patients but their families too. The installation of a counselling room for example is something we’ve not been able to deliver outside of Lincoln until now.”
The facility, at Endeavour Park, will provide a range of therapies to people in south Lincolnshire, and provide a base for the charity’s hospice at home care team. It would also be available for use by other organisations providing care and support to palliative patients and their families.
In 2019 a local philanthropist Stefan Novak left a £393,000 legacy to be spent on caring for those in the south of Lincolnshire, which has funded around half of the building named Novak House in his honour.
This would be spent on therapy and treatment rooms and a beautiful garden for activities including therapy groups, exercise sessions, counselling and social events.
Mandy continued: “This is going to very much be a community resource. The holistic approach is shown by the spiritual and psychological elements that will be included in what we offer and the extension of the space for use by Young Carers and Carers First will also mean we have a more cohesive link to health and the community locally too. It’s going to be a very collaborative and open space.”
The funding would also see the creation of a new lounge and kitchen called Rosie’s, named after cherished St Barnabas colleague Rosie Wood who died from coronavirus.
Before the pandemic, the Boston clinical team operated from an ageing bungalow in Green Lane that was much loved but but didn’t offer the space needed to deliver palliative services.
To find out more information or make a donation towards the build, visit www.stbarnabashospice.co.uk/bostonappeal