Category: Uncategorized

5 July 2019

“She brings so much compassion and warmth” says hospice chaplain

Weston Hospicecare’s chaplain Karen Murphy has praised a volunteer who has been appointed curate for St Andrews Church in Burnham-on-Sea after a ceremony in Wells.

Margaret Hayward volunteers, as part of her training to become an Anglican priest, for Weston Hospicecare’s chaplaincy team and gives support to day patients and inpatients at the charity’s base at Jackson-Barstow House.

Karen says Margaret is a tremendous asset to the hospice and is pleased to see her service being recognised.

She said: “I’ve been chaplain here for 14 years and Margaret joined the chaplaincy team about three years ago.

“It’s been great to support Margaret through her training and then to be part of her ordination day recently.

“Most people serve their curacy as part of a church community but Margaret’s heart is really for chaplaincy and so, unusually, she has been allowed to use her role here as part of her training.

“She currently supports day hospice patients and the inpatients for spiritual care but I hope she will be able to do some community chaplaincy for the hospice as well as developing her interest and skills in working with dementia patients.

“Margaret has great skills for the role and brings so much compassion and warmth into her encounters with patients. It’s a joy and privilege to have her as part of our team.”

Weston Hospicecare’s chaplaincy services form part of family support team which is essential to the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of patients and their families as they endure the toughest days of their lives together.

2 July 2019

Supermarket team pledges birthday support for Weston Hospicecare

Supermarket Sainsbury’s has offered its support for Weston Hospicecare – with staff at the Worle store pledging hundreds of hours of volunteering time and fundraising support.

The Queensway store has adopted the hospice as its charity of the year, while also identifying the charity as its principle beneficiary of the chain’s 150 Days Of Community project.

This sees different Sainsbury’s stores around the UK selecting charities to benefit from 150 days’ worth of its workers’ time; participating employees are paid as normal, but spend a cumulative total of 150 days working for the nominated charities instead.

The team at Sainsbury’s voted to back Weston Hospicecare, and they have worked with hospice managers to identify a project they can devote time to; renovating an important storage area within the hospice headquarters at Jackson-Barstow House in Uphill.

Steve Kovacs, manager of Sainsbury’s Worle, said: “We’ve spent a century and a half being part of thousands of communities. Making a difference. Doing our bit.

“So what better way to celebrate our 150th birthday than by making more of a difference for our communities than ever before?

“Our birthday weekend marked the start of our 150 Days Of Community. We’ve pledged support for over 2,500 projects and we’ll all be making a difference and doing our bit for projects that have the biggest impact in our communities.

“Here at Worle Sainsbury’s we have chosen to support and work with Weston Hospicecare. So many of our colleagues and customers have had loved ones cared for at the hospice and want to give something back.

“From 26 May to 23October we will be volunteering at the hospice to make their external storage room beautiful and fit for purpose once again.

“We will be clearing, sanding, painting and organising with the hospice to make the room a bright light and easily accessible storage space.”

Sainsbury’s has also pledged in-store fundraising opportunities for the hospice, which will be gratefully received too.

Simon Angear, the hospice’s corporate fundraising manager, said: “We are grateful to the team at Sainsbury’s for choosing to support us through their 150 Days Of Community initiative.

“We look forward to forging new friendships within the team as we work with them on this important project in the months ahead.”

2 May 2019

Weston Hospicecare to close shop in Weston’s Aller Parade

Weston Hospicecare has reluctantly decided to close its shop in Weston’s Aller Parade.

The charity depends upon community support to fund its services, and runs a network of 17 shops across its patch in North Somerset and Sedgemoor.

Those shops make a substantial contribution to the hospice’s annual running costs of £4.2million a year, but performance is regularly reviewed to ensure they are each proving cost effective for the charity to run.

And following a recent assessment of performance of the Aller Parade premises, managers will be closing the charity shop’s doors.

That means it will cease trading on 17 May, bringing to an end the hospice’s eight-year stay in Aller Parade.

Efforts are now being made to find alternative roles for the shop’s manager and assistant manager, and the 13-strong volunteer team who support it, while a search has begun for replacement premises.

Weston Hospicecare’s retail director Gemma Turner said: “We of course have a responsibility to manage our resources in the best interests of Weston Hospicecare, and that means ensuring that our shops are run in the most efficient way.

“That can sometimes mean changes need to be made to our portfolio, and while it’s always a difficult decision to close a shop, we believe this change is in the best interests of Weston Hospicecare.

“I will be meeting with staff and volunteers to discuss the way forward for them all, and we will do our utmost to find the right outcome for all concerned. I would, however, like to pay tribute the wonderful team at Aller Parade for their work through the years, which has been valued and appreciated.

“I would also like to thank our customers who have been incredibly loyal over the years; it’s a shame we cannot continue to serve them from Aller Parade, but we do hope to see them at other Weston Hospicecare shops soon.”

The Aller Parade shop – which was damaged by arson in 2016 before reopening in 2017 – specialised in £1 items. Shoppers can find an alternative Weston Hospicecare £1 store in Walliscote Road, after the shop reopened last week following a refurbishment.

Meanwhile, the hospice’s shop in Weston High Street will close its doors today (Thursday, May 2) for two to three weeks to enable essential maintenance works to be carried out. Its reopening date will be confirmed as soon as possible.

19 March 2019

Dancers to battle for glory at Weston Hospicecare’s glamorous Strictly fundraiser

Glitz and glamour will descend on Weston’s Winter Gardens this weekend, when 12 couples will compete in Weston Hospicecare’s second Strictly Fun Dancing contest.

The prestigious fundraising night will be compered by TV star Martin Roberts and organisers are aiming to trump the total of £22,000 raised on behalf of the charity at last year’s inaugural event.

The dozen couples have completed 10 weeks of training with expert local tutors Burning Salsa, and will look to dazzle Saturday’s sell-out audience with their waltz and salsa routines.

Each will be looking to put their own signature spin on the moves they have been learning, and will look to impress a panel of judges which includes Radio Bristol breakfast presenter Emma Britton, and Demetris Demetriou, whose restaurant Demetris Weston has sponsored the event.

Host Martin – best known to TV viewers as the presenter of Homes Under The Hammer, as well as for a colourful stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here – says he is looking forward to being involved once again.

He said: “I have personal experience of the incredible work Weston Hospicecare does, and cannot praise all the team and all the support staff enough.

“They provide help and support at a time when it really is most needed. My own mother-in-law had help from them in the final stages of her life, so I know how valuable the advice and comfort they give is.

“This event is a great idea; people love dancing shows, and the location is perfect. It’s going to be loads of fun, and we will hopefully raise lots of money.”

The 12 couples competing for the coveted Strictly trophy come from all across Weston and North Somerset, with many of them getting involved because their own families have been touched by the work of the hospice.

Each pair has been hard at work securing sponsorship as well as learning their dance moves, and will be expecting to be well supported by family and friends on the night, too.

Strictly Fun Dancing is the latest event in a packed hospice calendar in 2019, which is all helping to celebrate the charity’s 30^th anniversary.

And this year’s event has been sponsored by Demetris, with the well-loved Richmond Street restaurant also celebrating a landmark this year, with 2019 marking 40 years since it opened.

Demetris said: “What an incredible way to bring people together through music, a language everybody understands.

“We feel privileged to be asked to support this event, as there is no doubt many families have been supported by the hospice over the past 30 years.”

Demetris’ generous sponsorship means money raised on the night will be able to go directly to the hospice – and the charity’s event organiser Kelsey Dehaney said she is looking forward to what is sure to be a fabulous occasion.

Kelsey said: “I’ve been proud to see the development of our dancers at their 10 training sessions, can’t wait to see our Strictly stars shine on the night.

“We’re enormously grateful to everyone who has played a part in putting this event together, ranging from our dance tutors Ben and Ali from Burning Salsa, to our generous sponsor Demetris.

“I’m now enormously excited to see it all come together, and am looking forward to a memorable night on behalf of a charity which means so much to the people of Weston.”

Other upcoming events in the hospice’s anniversary year include the flagship Mendip Challenge event on 2 June, a wing-walking day on 21 June, the returning It’s A Hospice Knockout on 14 July, and a group Sahara Desert trek in November. Registration is now open for them all.

14 February 2019

Burglars strike overnight at Weston Hospicecare shop

Weston Hospicecare staff are today picking up the pieces after an overnight break-in at one of the charity’s popular Weston-super-Mare shops.

Raiders struck at the Milton Road store by forcing their way in through a fire door, before ransacking a staff area and helping themselves to a small amount of cash.

They also rifled through drawers and stole a hospice collecting tin, before needlessly smashing a glass door at the front of the shop.

It is thought the thieves may have secured entry by tampering with a fire door while posing as customers during the day, and then forcing the vulnerable door with a crowbar that night.

Witnesses have since reported seeing two people exiting an alley running alongside the premises at around 12.40am this morning (Thursday, February 14) – around the same time as a neighbour heard a noise which he had assumed to be customers dropping off a stock donation.

Weston Hospicecare’s retail director Gemma Turner condemned the criminals for depriving the hospice of money which would have been used to help care for patients.

She said: “It’s terribly upsetting for the whole team to arrive this morning and find the shop in such a state.

“We will now have to go to the expense of installing expensive security equipment and cameras, and it will cost us money to have the doors repaired and re-glazed and to clean up too.

“This will have a direct impact on the care we are able to give to our patients, which is of course the main purpose behind our shops.

“I would, however, like to say a big thank you to the Milton Road shop team for their calm and professional response to the incident, and to the police for getting investigators onsite so quickly.

“We will now turn our attention to cleaning up the damage, and look to get the shop open again. We’ve been enormously grateful to the Milton Road community for supporting this shop since it opened in summer 2017, and look forward to resuming normal service as soon as possible.”

Police have been carrying out a forensic examination of the scene this morning, and plan to follow that up with door-to-door witness inquiries later on.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police on 101. Meanwhile, the Milton Road shop – which is supported by a team of more than 20 volunteers and sells fashion items, books, games and bric-a-brac – is expected to reopen tomorrow (Friday).