ST RICHARD’S Hospice is urging the community to support the charity’s vision of creating a new living well centre which will enable it to double the number of patients it cares for.
It will be called the ‘St Richard’s Hospice Bradbury Centre’ thanks to the generous support of the Bradbury Foundation, and will include a number of new rooms which will offer the patients care and support.
There will be ‘living well’ rooms where patients, carers, staff and visitors can gather together to eat and drink, meet friends, sit after a therapeutic session or just connect with others who have come to the hospice for support.
There will also be a therapy room, counselling room, exercise studio, art studio, training kitchen, horticultural room, a hairdressing salon and a music and cinema room.
The centre’s creation will be the focus of the second stage of the Build 2020 campaign with the first stage due to be completed by late spring.
St Richard’s chief executive June Patel said the hospice team was delighted that thanks to generous donations so far, adding parts of the hospice had already been developed or newly built and had already opened to patients and their families.
“It’s with a huge thanks to everyone who has donated so far that we are now able to welcome patients and their loved ones into lovely, bright and modern rooms to attend the hospice for the day, out-patient clinics and our Living Well activities.
“We’ve also re-opened our large reception which has been redesigned to create a more welcoming and friendly space.”
New build areas which opened last week include a spacious quiet sitting area for patients and families waiting for appointments or activities and a new education and learning hub.
Fund-raising director Tricia Cavell said the Build 2020 project would cost £5.3million but, thanks to generous support, there was only £776,000 left to raise.
She added it would enable the hospice to care for an extra 1,000 people-a-year when they need help most.
“We know that’s still a huge amount, but are very hopeful that everyone will get behind this final push to reach the target.”
The Build 2020 was launched last year because an increased demand for the hospice’s services had seen it ‘bursting at the seams’.
The new and expanded services will run alongside St Richard’s current wide range of patient and family care including support in people’s own homes and 17 in-patient beds.
For more information on the project, visit www.strichards.org.uk/build2020 and anyone wanting to donate can do so there or by calling 01905 763963.
Anyone wanting to organise their own fund-raising event to support Build 2020 can email Tricia Cavell at [email protected] or call her on 01905 763963.
