New Year's message from Hospiscare CEO

This year we have supported an amazing 2,254 patients as well as their families and friends.

What really counts though is how we look after our patients, their families and friends, not a number. Every patient, family member and friend is an individual, so I’ll let Tony, an Exeter patient’s husband, tell you of his Hospiscare experience.

“I take great comfort in knowing that my last days together with my beloved wife Dawn were so special and precious because of Hospiscare. I am passionate that this amazing charity can be there for others, because without the hospice and the care given by their nurses, it’s got to be a sad end.”

We are a local charity operating in East Devon, Exeter and Mid Devon, relying on community support to fund our work providing free, specialist care for terminally ill people.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters Hospiscare has developed an innovative training scheme for specialist palliative care nurses; and we now have two graduates of the scheme working in our Exeter team and two more nurses in training.

As ever, our fundraisers have been working hard in Exeter. In May 1,200 people took part in our first Neon Night Run at the university raising a staggering £42,000 and it's back in 2016.

Runners taking part in the Great West Run raised £18,500 for us! Our Open gardens this year raised a fantastic £24,500 with 50 gardens opening during the summer. Thank you for supporting all our many fundraising events.

We modernised our logo and branding and we named the Exeter hospice Searle House. The gardens of Searle House were entered into the local Britain in Bloom competition and we won the top accolade “outstanding.”

Yet another accolade, this time Charity of the Year by the Express and Echo! Jon-Paul Hedge, Express and Echo Editor said: “I am so pleased that Hospiscare walked away with the award, they really are the pride of Exeter. It was a very competitive category, with so many charities doing such good work. Hospiscare really is at the heart of the community in Exeter.”

During 2015 we opened Kings House in Honiton, our new day hospice in East Devon. Also, with the help of a grant we have introduced a new team of volunteers called care navigators in East Devon. These volunteers work with patients and families to provide friendship and help them find their way around the local health system. The scheme has been so successful we plan to extend it to Exeter and Mid Devon next year.

Running a charity is not without its challenges and some of you might have noticed our website has been temporarily replaced by a holding page. This was the result of a supplier unexpectedly going out of business but the good news is that we have a new site under construction that will be up and running by the end of February 2016.

So what are our plans for 2016? We want to develop the hospice at home scheme that we run in partnership with Seaton League of Friends and extend it to more areas.

We are changing our day services in Exeter to provide opportunities for more patients and carers to benefit from our fabulous facilities and we will be recruiting more volunteer care navigators.

And finally, exciting news, we have a new vice president, Revd Dame Sarah Mullally, Suffragan Bishop of Crediton. Bishop Sarah visited Searle House in October and we were delighted when she accepted our invitation to join us as a vice president.

Bishop Sarah has a distinguished background in nursing being appointed the government’s Chief Nursing Officer in 1999.

So a busy year but as always incredibly rewarding. Thank you again for helping us to make every day count for people with a terminal illness, their families and carers.

With my very best wishes to Exeter Daily readers for a peaceful New Year.

Glynis Atherton, Hospiscare Chief Executive