Every day is a struggle

Hopes may have been raised by the Government’s decision to give people greater choice and improved care at the end of their life but Thames Hospicecare still relies on voluntary contributions of 75 per cent for its funds. Lucy Jones reports.

Hospices nationwide welcomed the announcement last month by the Department of Health of a £1million fund to improve NHS environments for the dying and bereaved.

Hopes are furthermore raised about the Government’s End of Life Care Strategy set to be announced this summer and aiming to give people greater choice and improved care at the end of their life.

Recognising how crucial end-of-life care is to the physical and emotional wellbeing of patients and families is easy. However, the leading provider of palliative care in East Berkshire, Thames Hospicecare, will not be a recipient of the latest batch of Government money and still relies on raising 75 per cent of its funds from voluntary contributors.

In 2005, Thames Valley Hospice and The Paul Bevan Cancer Foundation merged to form Thames Hospicecare to offer holistic care and support for adults with terminal or life-limiting illnesses and for their families, friends and carers.

There are many ways the hospice relies on help from members of the community, particularly volunteers and fundraisers.

One such couple are John and Leila Clarke from Furze Platt Road, in Maidenhead, who have raised a mammoth £93,000 for the hospice from selling second-hand books for 22 years. John said: “We started before there even was a hospice and local charities were trying to raise money for it.

“We wanted to help chiefly because it was a local charity. Leila’s mother had also recently died and it was a good opportunity to get involved.”

John and Leila are the main volunteers at their monthly sale but with larger outside sales such as at the Eton Action Community Fair, they take on new helpers.

John explained why he and Leila have spent so much time raising money for end-of-life care. He said: “The hospice is important because of its approach to people’s dignity. You are looked after in pleasant surroundings rather than being shoved in a geriatric ward.”

The couple have seen the hospice in Windsor expand from a few beds to people being cared for in their own homes.

John added: “There is a growing need for a hospice like Thames Hospicecare because the NHS can t cope.
“But it’s the younger people one needs to get involved because there’s no point having everyone in the committee in their 70s or 80s.”

Any books the couple find that are out of the ordinary are taken to Richard Way’s book shop in Henley-on-Thames and one rare book of Victorian prints was sold for a hefty £160. But it is not for the books that John volunteers, he said: “I do it because volunteering is very rewarding.”

Another volunteer keen to support the hospice is Knowl Hill resident Dan Murray, who raised money for the service when he cycled from London to Paris last month.

The 34-year-old left Berkshire with two school friends on May 16 and has since raised £1,600 for the hospice where his mother volunteers.

He said: “I wanted to support a local charity because it’s easy to forget local charities need our support.
“The hospice serves a massive demographic and the compassion and the expertise they show is very important.”

Dan is already toying with the idea of canoeing down the Thames or cycling through the Alps on part of the Tour de France route for his next fundraising endeavour.