Mary and Jean would like to thank you
This Christmas, East Lancashire Hospice would like to thank each and every person who supports them. Whether you regularly donate, shop in their charity shops or attend their events, you make a difference.
Mary would also like to thank you. Her mother Jean has Parkinson’s disease and they use the Hospice At Home service to help not only Jean, but Mary as well.
“The Hospice at Home team have always been there for me at the end of the phone, meaning I can always ask them to send someone to support us.”
Mary and her mother also use the Creative and Support Therapy (CaST) service. “My mother is still very clever, and her mind is always working. We come in to CaST each week and attend the bingo and the quiz, and the wonderful volunteer Barbara stays behind to play dominoes with my Mum.”
Jean also uses the bathing service. The bathing service allows the hospice community patients to access bathing facilities that they may not be able to access at home. This allows Jean to take a bath in safety and style. “The bathing service is my Mum’s favourite. The bar, which comes down in front of her, reminds us of the log flume at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and the Complementary Therapist Ashley often pops down to add special oils to the water. It’s a real pamper day. They fit everything in and it has become a real treat. My Mum loves it!”
Jean and her husband Tom owned and ran a bakery business on East Park Road, Blackburn. Formerly from Scotland, the family moved to Blackburn in 1977 to set up the business. Wilson Bakery was well-established for a number of years where Tom worked in the bakery and Jean in the shop, until the couple retired.
Tom passed away two years ago after suffering from dementia, and now Mary looks after her mother full time.
“It is a real challenge. I live about 15 minutes away and don’t drive. Hospice At Home first offered overnight support when my father was terminally ill in Longfield, I had to get there urgently and they sent someone to sit with my mum. I turned to them again around 9 months ago.
“Someone stays over a couple of nights a week, allowing me to spend time at home with my husband Steve. Most nights I sleep on the sofa so that I can be there for her.
“They have a special way of caring, with a can-do attitude” she explained, “When I need someone to be with mum they offer respite care and cover appointments, tea times, evenings, shopping, whatever it is I need, I know I just have to ask.
“Everyone matters to them – and it is not just the Hospice at Home staff. The volunteers on reception, the staff in Café Retreat, all the staff show my mum patience, asking how she is, and waiting for her to answer questions.
“But I know that this care, this service, would not be available to me and my mum without those who support East Lancashire Hospice. It is reassuring to know I have access to the services and they are so well trained. And that is because of those who donate their time and money to the hospice.”
Hospice at Home allows East Lancashire Hospice to provide support to help improve quality of life, build independence and confidence and offer a feeling of wellbeing and control for carers and patients in the community. They support up to a hundred people within the community and it thanks to your donations that they can offer that.
Which is why they would like to say once again, Thank you this Christmas.
If you would like to support patients like Jean, please donate to East Lancashire Hospice on Donate (eastlancshospice.org.uk)