The ladies featured from the team are (L_R): Lisa (Community Nurse Specialist), Lyn (Senior Physiotherapist), Michelle (Community Nurse Specialist), Majella (Clinical Administrator) and Sabrina (Senior Occupational Therapist)
Hospice Heroes
The Royal College of Nursing website describes its nurses as ‘superheroes’; at Woking & Sam Beare Hospices there are ‘hospice heroes’ among the community nursing staff gearing up to participate in the charity’s ladies-only 8-mile Midnight Walk event today (Friday 19th May 2017).
The event starts and finishes at Woking Leisure Centre and is supported by headline sponsor Trident Honda as part of a its three-year major commitment to support the hospices, building on 21 years of support for the charity.
Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) Michelle, Liz, Lisa, Alison and Rachel, Physiotherapist Lyn, Occupational Therapists Sabrina and Clinical Administrator Majella, will be teaming up to do the 10th annual Midnight Walk, while fellow CNS Rupert will be marshalling.
The community nursing team is based in Weybridge (the hospice has another team based in Woking) and they provide the care in people’s own homes which represents 70% of the hospice’s work.
Majella said: ‘Most of us took part last year and it was a fantastic atmosphere right from the warm-up through to the end. It was so inspiring to see so many ladies from the local community joining in, and dressing up in the bunny ears and pink hero capes just adds to the fun! Most of us are not dedicated sporty types – it’s Lyn as the physiotherapist who keeps us going and reminds us all about training – so if we can do it, anyone can. I don’t think a coffee and a cheese sandwich has ever tasted as good as it did at the finish after a tiring but brilliant walk!’
‘We are all keen to support the hospice’s fundraising because of course we see in our daily work the huge difference the care we can provide makes to our patients and their families. I think many people are unaware that the hospice is funded through donations and our care is given free-of-charge, so we want to show our commitment to supporting the hospice in any way we can. I also understand from a family member’s perspective what a huge difference the support and care of hospice staff can make at such an emotional time.’
Woking & Sam Beare Hospices has a patient-centered ethos, and that includes enabling patients to stay in their own home if they wish to for as long as possible, often until the end of their life.
The Multi-disciplinary Community Team work to achieve this by forming a vital link between home and the expertise of in-patient care hospice setting. The CNS team work alongside GP’s and District Nurses to ensure seamless care in the community. They visit any care setting: in the patient’s home, or a nursing or care home and accept referrals based on need rather than diagnosis, relating to any progressive, life threatening illness. They visit patients seven days a week and to support this, the hospice provides a 24 hour advice line.
How You Can Support The Sam Beare Hospice Community Nursing Team
If you would like to support the community team’s Midnight Walk fundraising please visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Majella-Slattery3
Taking Part In The Midnight Walk
Online registration is now closed but ladies can register tonight between 8 and 9pm in the main hall of Woking Leisure Centre.
Registration costs £25 and includes a free event T-shirt.
Other Events & Volunteering
Please visit www.wsbhospices.co.uk to find out more about other challenge events and opportunities to support the hospice or to volunteer.
When & Where
The Midnight Walk will start at 8pm with a welcome and registration session, leaving Woking Leisure Centre at 10pm and following an eight mile route back to the centre.
Date: Friday 19th May 2017
Where: Woking Leisure Centre
Woking Park,
Kingfield Rd, Woking
Surrey GU22 9BA
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.