Hunmanby Cancer Fund donates £5,000 in support of Hospice at Home service

Hunmanby Cancer Fund donates £5,000 in support of Hospice at Home service

Hunmanby Cancer Fund has sponsored a day of the Saint Catherine’s ‘Hospice at Home’ service by giving a generous donation of £5,000.

Members of the group visited Saint Catherine’s to hand over the donation, meet the teams and learn more about all the services on offer – in particular Hospice at Home, which covers areas such as Filey, Hunmanby, Scarborough, Eastfield and Ayton.

Maureen Chambers, chairman of Hunmanby Cancer Fund, said: “None of us realised the extent of the services that come out of this hospice.

“Everyone knows the hospice is where people come for end-of-life care, but it’s also for respite, medication and to provide help to families. It’s really opened my eyes.

“The visit has been so informative – we’ve really enjoyed it and we were so pleased to see that the team work so closely together and support each other – and the support they give to the family unit is so important. They are just incredible.”

The Hospice at Home service provides support to allow more patients to remain in their own homes at the end of life.

For those in the final stages of any terminal illness, this service gives access to clinical expertise and home visits at any hour of day or night.

The service is provided in partnership with Marie Curie and works closely with district nurses to provide co-ordinated services to patients.

Helen Grierson, senior staff nurse, said: “We’re finding more and more people are wanting to stay at home – they didn’t always have the choice before.

“I feel we’re very lucky to have this job – it’s a very special place to work and a privilege being able to help people on their final journey.”

Hospice at Home costs £5,000 a day to run and is provided at no cost to patients, carers and families.

To find out more about services provided by Saint Catherine’s, go to www.saintcatherines.org.uk or call (01723) 351421.

If you would like to help by raising funds, call the fundraising department for support and advice on (01723) 378406.