 Thames Hospice by Bray Lake on the Windsor Road can this year celebrate 39 years of invaluable service to the community under the motto "Quality of life to the end of life, for everyone". The charity (originally the brainchild of volunteers from St. Anthony's RC Church in Slough and St. Joseph's RC Church in Gerrards Cross, led by Dr Douglas Denny and his wife Pauline) was officially opened by the late Queen Elizabeth II at Pine Lodge in Windsor in November 1987. The official opening had to be repeated in 2022 (the late Queen's last public appearance) when the charity had outgrown their old premises and moved to the state of the art facility by the lake. Their aim is to provide the best palliative care possible from the age of 16 and upwards, and also includes the patients' families and friends. The Hospice, which has 28 beds, also caters for Home services with a range of outpatients activities and wellbeing therapies, including physiotherapy, counselling and bereavement support. To run the organisation effectively 360 members of staff are needed. They are supported by 1,100 volunteers who help to care to over 3,000 patients every year. This interesting insight into the Hospice's work was delivered by Ray Hinds, one of the many volunteers from the charity, at the evening meeting at the Odney Club in Cookham on Monday 23rd April. |   He also revealed that the Hospice has to rely on the public to keep its facilities open as it only receives 30% of its running costs from the Government. Thanks to personal donations, money from wills, raffles, fundraising and sales through their 23 shops the Hospice manages to raise the staggering daily target of £39,000. |
|
|