Sue Ryder has launched a new fundraising campaign to help it fill terminally ill patients’ rooms with love in their final days.
The national healthcare charity, which runs Gloucestershire’s only palliative care hospice in Leckhampton, is appealing for locals’ help so its care teams can continue to go the extra mile in supporting patients and families as they prepare to say goodbye.
The funds raised will help Sue Ryder to ease some of the pain, stress and uncertainty that comes with losing a loved one, providing practical and emotional support as well as expert medical care.
Going above and beyond to give families and friends a better goodbye, Sue Ryder’s care teams want to fill patients’ rooms with everything they love – from their favourite music to beloved pets and the people that mean the most to them.
The Sue Ryder Hospice at Home team made it possible for David’s family to be together in his last days – making sure he was able spend them comfortably at home with his wife and his daughter, Joanna.
With Sue Ryder’s support, Joanna and her mum felt empowered to make the decision that they would care for David at home in the last weeks of his life.
Joanna said: ‘Some of the care team brought humour – much needed at such a difficult time. Others connected with us on shared interests and experiences. In their first couple of visits, our carers took time to find out about Dad – where he used to work, what his interests were, and to look at old family photos. He wasn’t just a patient to them: he was a person.
‘It takes a very special person to carry out the work that the Hospice at Home team does, every day, for families like ours across the country. They made it possible for us to be together as a family in one of the most difficult times of our lives, and I will always, always be grateful and thankful for their love and care for us.’
Melissa, one of the Sue Ryder nurses who helped care for David and his family, said: ‘We often talk about the photos that people have around them and I really think patients like there to be a bit of normality.
‘On the day David died we called their vicar for them and he came and I hope that gave them some comfort. David kept his Bible beside his bed, so we knew his faith was important to him.
‘When the family stepped out so we could perform the last offices we picked a rose from a bush in the garden and laid it on David’s pillow and placed his Bible under his hand. It’s a way for us to say that we have been privileged to look after your family.’
Gloucestershire can help Sue Ryder’s nurses to continue providing compassionate end of life care to families like David’s by donating to its Room Full of Love campaign – with as little as £3 a month going a long way.
For more information, and to support Sue Ryder’s Room Full of Love campaign, visit sueryder.org/fillaroom.
