St John’s Hospice has been at the forefront of care since 1984, providing specialist palliative care to more than 4,500 terminally-ill patients and their families each year.
The range of services that St John’s Hospice provides is guided by their core belief that every person is entitled to live life to the fullest and be treated with dignity, empathy and respect.
Their specialist services include social welfare and bereavement support, community care, day services, carer respite and family support across seven North London boroughs.
The Hospice’s Day Care Unit is central to the services provided to the local community.
There, people come together in a safe environment to benefit from therapy sessions, meet with social workers, take art classes or simply enjoy a hot meal and a chat in the Hospice garden.
Since the opening of the unit, patient needs have changed and expanded, not least as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; leaving staff with a constant struggle to make the space work for those for whom they care.
As a result, the Hospice has launched an ambitious project for 2022 to transform the Day Care Unit into the first of their one-of-a-kind community hubs.
The transformative project seeks to expand and improve on every aspect of the Hospice’s work, providing specialist care to more people and catering for a broader range of conditions.
This includes scaling up their provision of treatment for Lymphoedema, a chronic condition that causes painful swelling in the body’s tissues, and which affects 2 in 10 people with breast cancer and 3 in 5 people with testicular or ovarian cancer.
Moreover, the creation of a multi-sensory room will enable them to better support and treat patients with Dementia, Alzheimer’s and Motor Neurone disease.
The Hospice’s garden will also be refurbished and accessibility improved.
This means more patients, caregivers and staff will be able to enjoy the serenity of an outside space.
The project, which will cost over £2 million to complete, is more than just bricks and mortar. It will enable more people to walk through the Hospice’s doors each day, and eventually, seven days a week.
This will make St John’s the only London hospice that can provide this level of care.
If you’re interested in supporting this exciting project, please donate via their website stjohnshospice.org.uk/donate
Alternatively, get in touch with the St John’s fundraising team by emailing fundraising@hje.org or calling 020 7806 4011.
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