Children’s Book of Poems published to raise funds for Woking & Sam Beare Hospices
A beautiful book of children’s poems has been published in memory of a loving wife, mother and grandmother, Gill Doherty to raise funds for Woking & Sam Beare Hospices and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
A woman of many talents, besides being a wonderful drama teacher and gifted artist, Gill spent much of her spare time writing short stories and poetry. With many years’ experience as a school teacher and loving grandmother, much of the inspiration for her poems came from the many children that filled her life.
“Gill frequently shared her poems with me and expressed her hopes of one day having her work published” commented Gemma Doherty, Gills Daughter in Law.
“In the months leading up to Christmas 2017, I came up with an idea to secretly collate some of Gill’s children’s poems, illustrate them and get a small run of books published for the whole family as surprise Christmas presents which everyone absolutely loved”.
Gill lost her battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in December 2018 – a couple of weeks before her 68th birthday. She had been officially diagnosed in early 2017 but had suspected for some time that something was seriously wrong and sadly as Gills condition rapidly deteriorated she no longer had the energy to write.
Over 70% of the care Woking & Sam Beare Hospices provide is in the community, Gill was cared for by the Sam Beare Community Team in her own home by our Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) along with physiotherapy and occupational therapy. This specialist care is tailored to the individual patients and gives them the choice of staying in their own home.
Following Gills death the whole family agreed that it would be a fantastic idea to publish the books in her memory so they could share her beautiful poems and raise money for two charities that had helped her so much in her final months – Woking & Sam Beare Hospices & The Motor Neurone Disease Association.
The Book of Poems are available in the Hospice Gift Shop in the Garden Café at Woking Hospice, Goldworth Park. By making a £5.00 donation for the Book of Poems you will be supporting Woking & Sam Beare Hospices and remembering Gill. You can also order the books online at www.wsbhospices.co.uk/shop.
The family and our charity really do appreciate your support. If you want to make your donation go further then please complete a Gift Aid Donation form.
About Woking & Sam Beare Hospices
- We deliver 8,760 hours of care and support each year
- Our team of specialist healthcare professionals care for our patients 24 hours per day, seven days per week
- We care for approximately 2,000 patients each year
- Over 70% of our care is delivered in patient homes or care or nursing homes
- We receive referrals from Spelthorne, West Elmbridge, Woking, North Guildford, Surrey Heath and Runnymede but we can take patients outside of our region if required
- We are specialists in care for patients with advanced progressive complex needs
- We care for patients with, for example, advance dementia, heart disease, cancer, degenerative conditions and kidney disease
- We care for adults of all ages [18 – 85+]
- Our services are completely FREE of charge
- We offer support services for carers and family members
- We provide child and teenage bereavement counselling
- Our Wellbeing Centre offers a range of treatments and therapies
- We have 816 fabulous volunteers, without whom we could not deliver all that we do
- We work closely with GPs and other clinicians to share knowledge and expertise
- For every £5 of costs incurred we need to raise £4 from voluntary income
- We need to raise in excess of £8 million a year to continue to deliver our services
Woking & Sam Beare Hospices is a patient-centred charity that delivers specialist palliative care to adult patients of all ages who have life-limiting and terminal illnesses. We cover the North West Surrey region, providing free of charge holistic care and support services for patients, their families and carers. Each year we care for over 2000 patients, their families and carers both in our hospice and their own homes (where over 70% of our care is delivered) enabling patient choice and the best quality of life.
We care for adults of all ages with a wide range of life limiting conditions such as cancer, heart disease, Motor Neurone Disease (MND), chronic pulmonary conditions, Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We help patients to manage their symptoms, which are often complex and why they require the expertise of our Clinical Nurse Specialists and specialist doctors.
Our services enable us to offer our patients holistic care, which means we offer practical, emotional, social and spiritual support as well as managing their medical needs. We offer day care services where patients receive assessments, treatments and therapies, as well as emotional and spiritual support. We also deliver counselling for our patients and their families, including child bereavement services and school support programmes.
We are a charity, and while we receive some government funding, around 75% of what we deliver is funded through our charity shops and fundraising activities. We could not do this without the generosity of all of our supporters, volunteers and the local community.
For more information about Woking & Sam Beare Hospices please see the Woking & Sam Beare Hospices page
Woking and Sam Beare Hospices are independent charities dedicated to providing specialised end of life care and support to local people, their families and carers. Registered charity number for Woking Hospice: 1082798. Registered charity number for Sam Beare Hospice: 1115439.
Around 75% of what we deliver is funded through our charity shops and fundraising activities. We could not do this without the generosity of all of our supporters, volunteers and the local community.
