2nd–8th June is Volunteers’ Week, and local charity Phyllis Tuckwell would like to say a huge thank you to its amazing volunteers, who play such a big role in helping it to provide its vital Hospice Care.
Caption: Phyllis Tuckwell’s team of volunteers includes Home Support volunteers, who offer companionship to patients at home.
Phyllis Tuckwell offers palliative and end of life care to local patients and families living with an advanced or terminal illness, such as cancer. It has an incredible 653 volunteers, who fill 91 roles in so many of its different teams. Volunteer physiotherapists and complementary therapists help ease symptoms such as pain, breathlessness and anxiety. Home Support volunteers visit patients who would like some companionship at home, while others drive patients to the charity’s Living Well sessions, which many wouldn’t be able to attend otherwise. Here patients can access services to help them manage daily life; enjoy visits from Pets as Therapy (PAT) volunteers, who bring their dogs to some sessions for patients to stroke; attend volunteer-led art therapy sessions, where they can work through and express their feelings creatively; and spend time in the gardens, which are tended to by volunteer gardeners.
Pastoral care companions can sit with patients at the end of their life, providing comfort and support, while receptionists and ward clerks support staff and welcome visitors on the In-Patient Unit and at the Beacon Centre. Volunteers at Phyllis Tuckwell’s shops help the charity to raise the money it needs to provide its care, and a volunteer writes in calligraphy in the charity’s Book of Remembrance. Volunteers also support in the charity’s finance, marketing and fundraising teams, and one volunteer takes any cashmere garments which are donated to its shops, but which have holes in and cannot be sold, and reworks the material into sellable gloves, hats and wrist warmers, saving these materials from going to landfill and raising money to help fund its care!
Every year, Phyllis Tuckwell organises a special event to celebrate the amazing contribution which its volunteers make. Its Long Service Awards recognise those who have been volunteering with the charity for 5, 10, 20, 30 and even 40 years.
“This year we will be celebrating the fantastic contribution of 50 of our volunteers, who have supported us for the milestones of 5, 10 and 20 years,” said Julia Morpeth, voluntary services manager at Phyllis Tuckwell. “We’d like to say a huge thank you to all of our amazing volunteers, whose support is so very much appreciated. Without you, we simply wouldn’t be able to provide our vital care - so thank you!”
All our services are free, but this is only possible due to the generosity of our amazing community. The Government/NHS only provide 25% of our costs, so we need to raise over £25,000 every day to provide our vital services.
Please donate what you can to help keep hospice care available to all those in our community who need us.
