Category: Hospice News

Today is #PurpleTuesday, a day which looks to improve awareness of the value and needs of disabled customers. It is a celebration of the  #PurplePound; the fact that disabled people put £274 billion into the economy each year. Showing our support and appreciation for our disabled customers, some of whom are also patients in our care, is of huge importance to us as a hospice.

We appreciate that, like many organisations, there is more we can do to improve accessibility in our charity shops both for people with visible and hidden disabilities. Starting with our brand-new superstore – The Warehouse – we have set out measures to ensure that everyone, including those with disabilities, have a positive shopping experience.

The Warehouse will have disabled parking bays, a ramp entrance, spacious changing room, disabled toilet and low level, ground floor shopping. We have also consulted with our Admiral Nurse Clinical Lead to ensure the shop is suitable for customers with dementia. From his feedback and Alzheimer’s UK guidance, we have included neutral flooring, clear signage and free ‘Dementia Friends’ training for all staff and volunteers.

As a ‘Disability Confident Employer,’ we have adapted our recruitment process to make it more accessible for those with disabilities. This includes a subtitled induction.

We appreciate that some of our older charity shops don’t match these high standards of accessibility, but we pledge to use insight and feedback from opening The Warehouse to advise future charity shop accessibility decisions.

Find our more about The Warehouse at www.stbarnabashospice.co.uk/warehouse-announcement and email any feedback to shops@stbarnabashospice.co.uk.

“Mum always felt that Christmas was a special time to make even more difference to patients and families in her voluntary role at St Barnabas Hospice. I feel touched that her care and dedication was replicated by colleagues when the tables turned, and she was diagnosed with a terminal illness. 

Last Christmas was the first without Mum, so I want to tell you about how St Barnabas made this difficult time of year feel special, even during a pandemic. Mum and Dad have always been at the centre of our family Christmas, so it warms my heart to know that we can still celebrate their lives thanks to St Barnabas’s festive tradition. 

Mum had volunteered for St Barnabas since 1994, working on the Inpatient Unit in Lincoln to support patients and families with cups of tea, friendly smiles and a listening ear during tough times. Many years into this role, my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer and also spent time at this wonderful sanctuary receiving care. 

After Dad died, Mum carried on volunteering, determined to make a difference wherever she could. But then last year, during the height of the pandemic, I drove her to hospital for some blood tests after she fell ill at home. 

It was so hard watching them wheel her inside without me, but nothing compared to the feeling when the hospital called me and told me she had cancer and it was terminal. I also found out that she had tested positive for coronavirus. It is difficult enough to hear that you are going to lose a parent, but to not even be able to hug and reassure her was devastating.

When I spoke to her, she said “I want to go to St Barnabas; I want to be with my second family.” I made the relevant calls and her colleagues did the rest, giving her a private room to ensure the safety of other patients from the virus. 

It meant absolutely everything to her that she could spend her last few days there, I can’t thank the nurses enough for all they did. St Barnabas cares for people across the county, at both their Inpatient Units and in people’s own homes. I have been blown away to read stories about how they have helped families in all four corners of Lincolnshire, despite the pandemic having such a devastating impact to their finances. 

Mum absolutely adored the Torchlight Procession that St Barnabas organises each Christmas. When my dad was being cared for in the Hospice, the Procession stopped outside and played ‘Amazing Grace’ for the patients to hear. It really lifted his spirits, and I know it will have done the same for many others through the years. 

The year before she died, Mum was asked to share Dad’s story as part of the Hospice’s Light up a Life campaign, and this made her so proud. I feel humbled to now be sharing Mum’s story this year and will be dedicating two extra special lights to remember them both. 

We often make comments as if Mum is still with us, and to an extent, I think she is. I know she will be up there with Dad watching the Torchlight Procession light up the streets of Lincoln, and I know I will feel the same pride that she did as I carry their torch to the Tree of Life along with hundreds of others. 

This Christmas, please join me in remembering your loved ones in a celebration of light. I am inviting you to dedicate your light for a loved one so they can shine brightly on St Barnabas Hospice’s beautiful Tree of Life outside Lincoln Cathedral. A donation of just £68.72 would pay for a doctor to spend time working out a personalised pain relief medication plan for a patient.

You can remember anyone with a light, not just those cared for by the Hospice. As a thank you and token for your loved one, St Barnabas will send you a personalised card and special tree decoration in the post. You will also be invited to attend the Torchlight Procession in November, either at the in-person event or via a virtual service. 

Your donation for a light could pay for more people like Mum and Dad to receive specialist end-of-life care during the most difficult of times. It could help St Barnabas care for more people long into the future as they face the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and the increase in patients needing their care with complex illnesses. 

Because of the wonderful people at St Barnabas, I was able to spend Mum’s last moments with her safely, despite the pandemic. I thanked her for being the best mum and for all she had done for everyone. She just squeezed my hand and said, “thanks for sorting this.” I know it meant the world to her to die at St Barnabas. 

Please join me in shining a light to remember someone special this Christmas. Lincolnshire has lost so many loved ones during the pandemic, but I know that remembering them and celebrating their lives, will help lift some of that apprehension that we are all feeling about spending Christmas without them. To dedicate a light, please go to: Light up a Life – St Barnabas Hospice

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. 

Best wishes, 

Steve Norton 

St Barnabas Hospice supporter  

Dedicate a light

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

Over the past two weeks, our retail shops have been getting stuck in with all things ‘Bake off Mania’ by getting involved in the St Barnabas Bakeoff Window display competition!

It has been very difficult to judge these entries. All our shops that entered did very well and there were many great displays of originality, resourcefulness, and collaboration! However, there must only be one winner…

All entries were judged out of a score of 10 in three categories, originality, composition, and theme, making 30 points the maximum number of points possible.

In third place… Mablethorpe! Caroline and her team did a brilliant job using the items they had available to bring us a great display full of British Bake-off iconography, bric-a-brac and most impressive of all, an edible bread loaf. A great display of originality. Well done!

In second place… Nettleham Fields! Well done to Debbie and her team on capturing the true bake-off theme through a brilliant use of the items available to you. The display is well composed and sure did do the trick! The best part of the display of course must be the selection of cupcakes that were available for customers to enjoy! Great job once again!

And in first place we have … Lincoln High Street North! A massive congratulations to Louise and team on arranging a beautifully composed, colour rich display that is very true to the theme yet brings in all the vintage elements that your store is so popular for. You have all truly captured the Bake-off mania!

Congratulations to all the winners, your prizes will be arranged shortly. A huge well done and thank you to all the shops that took part. This competition brought all our shops together with all things Bake-off and resulted in some brilliant displays that not only looked incredible but also enticed customers into our shops and resulted in several purchases and donations being made in support of our hospice, which is what the shops are for.

See below to see all the winner’s window displays!

 

This week, the Government confirmed their plans to move to the final stage of easing COVID restrictions on 19^th July. While this means that most legal restrictions on social contact will be removed, we are asking for our community’s understanding as we keep visitor restrictions and infection prevention measures in place. It is imperative that we act in the best interests of our patients, who are classed as clinically vulnerable.

Up until now, our infection prevention measures have worked well in preventing the spread of the virus among hospice staff, volunteers, patients, families and supporters. Therefore, we want these to continue for the present time.

As a hospice caring for patients with complex and specialist needs, we will continue with the following measures in both our Lincoln Inpatient Unit and Grantham Hospice in the Hospital:

• One named visitor per patient per day.
• Staff and volunteers will continue to wear face masks and undertake regular Covid-19 testing.
• Visitors will be asked to provide a negative lateral flow test on the day or undertake a temperature check prior to the visit and use a face mask during their visit.

In addition, as some of our bases re-open around the county all staff, and volunteers will continue to wear face masks when inside and undertake regular lateral flow tests. We will request that all visitors do the same.

Staff and volunteers will also continue to wear face coverings in our 25 charity shops across the county and will be encouraging customers to do the same to help protect the wider community. Screens and social distancing will still be in use and we have taken the decision to keep changing rooms closed for the time being.

Chris Wheway, Chief Executive at St Barnabas Hospice said, “Although it is fantastic to see light at the end of the tunnel, cases of coronavirus are rising both locally and nationally, so we must not let our guard down.

“We have a duty of care to our patients, staff, volunteers, supporters, customers and local community; therefore, we will continue to do everything in our power to keep people safe. I would like to thank everyone for their incredible support this past year and for being understanding as we find a safe and practical way forward.”