St Barnabas Hospice is celebrating after receiving a legacy gift of £400,000 to open a state-of-the-art Wellbeing Hub in Boston, Lincolnshire.
As the leading hospice care provider in Lincolnshire, the charity relies on fundraising and legacy gifts to offer free end of life care from a patients’ point of diagnosis.
In 2019 career-driven, philanthropist Stefan Novak left his legacy to the Hospice to increase services in Boston. After careful consideration, the Hospice’s executives have announced plans for a multi-functional ‘Wellbeing Hub’ to replace its previous site on Green Lane. Work on the redevelopment will start in 2021.
Stefan Novak was known in Lincolnshire for his zest for life despite losing his sight at the age of 10. His accomplishments included a successful career in investment banking, creating audiobooks for the blind and charity fundraising. His legacy gift will ensure launch the next phase of St Barnabas’s vision.
The new site, to be named ‘Novak House’ will see a complete renovation and repurposing of the existing site and will be dedicated to Mr Novak in recognition of his work and his gift to the Hospice.
Mandy Irons, Head of Wellbeing at St Barnabas Hospice, said:
“Helping people to live as well as possible for as long as possible while supporting their families t is so important to everyone at St Barnabas.
“Stefan Novak and his family have enabled us to create a custom-designed hub that brings our wellbeing and clinical care together, which will help us to achieve the very best we can for local people. Novak House will be our flagship wellbeing hub and our blueprint for developing further hubs across the county.”
The Wellbeing Hub will support patients and their families with physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological needs through its community and wellbeing teams. The Hospice’s welfare and benefits team will also provide advice and guidance through the hub. Appointments will also be available with palliative care consultants, palliative rehabilitation teams and talking therapies teams. The hub will also boast relaxation areas and outdoor space for families to take some much-needed time out.
The new facility will also provide a base for the St Barnabas community team to care for patients and their families in their own homes. Professionals from many different organisations are involved in a patient’s care, and the hub will also host space for other services, such as Macmillan, Marie Curie and the NHS community teams to come together to support patients and their families through the specialist palliative care multidisciplinary team approach.
St Barnabas Hospice CEO, Chris Wheway added:
“Our mission at St Barnabas is to offer outstanding end of life care to everyone, when they need it and where they need it. Our vision is to keep pushing forward, improving our facilities and caring for more people year on year. Simply put, if this generous legacy had not been gifted, we would not be able to continue with the plans for the Wellbeing Hub in Boston. It is a testament to Mr Novak, who had a vested interest in palliative and end of life care in Lincolnshire.
“2020 has been an incredibly difficult time for everyone, including St Barnabas Hospice. We have lost a substantial amount of funds through our shop closures and cancelled fundraising events and have a lot of work to do to recoup these losses.
“I am proud to say that our clinical and non-clinical team have kept working throughout the Pandemic. We have been forced to change our ways of working, but our care has remained, and our patients and their families have been supported.”
Chris continues:
“I hope 2020 has reminded everyone that end of life care is essential, our goal remains the same – everyone in Lincolnshire deserves the right to a good death. The development of our services in Boston has been required for a long time, and we are excited to see the project move forward and benefit all our patients and staff in South Lincolnshire.”
ENDS