Entries by Jackie Butler

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You can take the lady out of St Luke’s but not St Luke’s out of the lady

St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth has reunited with one of its earliest caring hearts during a surprise visit for this special lady on her 95th birthday.

Brixton Venn Court resident Joy Ridley, one of St Luke’s first-ever nursing auxiliaries in the 1980s, was visibly moved when Jess Timbrell, a paramedic with the hospice, arrived with flowers and a birthday card for her this week. Although the two women had never met before, they quickly recognised in each other the same unwavering compassion for families affected by terminal illness.

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Making memories matter: Walking midnight miles for hospice care

Big-hearted walkers wore sunny smiles and vibrant pink T-shirts as they strode through the city’s streets on Friday (11 July), celebrating precious memories of much-missed family members and friends, while raising funds to support the compassionate care St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth delivers.
The charity’s annual, family-friendly Midnight Walk attracted an incredible 1,125 entrants taking on a choice of four routes – 2.5, five, 7.5 and 13.5 miles (the equivalent of a half marathon) – making it accessible for people of all ages and levels of fitness.

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Bigger, better and brimming with bargains, St Luke’s opens new charity shop in Plymstock

We were excited to officially open our new shop in the heart of Plymstock this week, welcoming customers in search of budget-friendly buys that support vital services for the community.

As customers browsed for bargains at our new Plymstock Broadway store on Monday, they were treated to live music courtesy of talented performers from Plymstock School.
Easy to find, the shop is located just a few doors down from the St Luke’s outlet it has replaced. Bright, modern, and double the size of its predecessor, it offers shoppers a wider choice of good-quality, stylish, pre-loved clothes for men, women and children, as well as an array of attractive homeware and a treasure trove of toys. Open seven days a week, the spacious new store is continuing the trusted retail service St Luke’s has been providing on Plymstock Broadway since the 1980s.

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For the love of dogs…

At St Luke’s, taking good care of our patients is about paying attention to what really matters to them… and that includes their important relationships with the dogs that share their lives.
Worrying about what will happen to their faithful canine companion can weigh heavily on a patient’s mind in their final days and weeks. Partners, family members or friends are often only too happy to take on a loved one’s pet, but that’s not always possible. That’s when our compassionate teams go above and beyond to help find the right solution. They’ve even been known to adopt a patient’s dog themselves.
Community team specialist health care assistant Marianne Smith stepped in a couple of months ago to find a new owner for patient Christine’s little dog, Roddy. The cute and fluffy white Kokoni had already had a difficult start in life. He was found as a stray puppy on the streets of Cyprus, and he’d been Christine’s loyal pal for around four years.

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Fill a box to support our compassionate care

Traditionally, there’s only one ‘Boxing Day’ per year, but that’s set to change when St Luke’s introduces a new concept to its large, city-centre retail outlet in January.
From Saturday 4 January, customers browsing the good-quality, preloved clothing on the rails at our Western Approach charity shop will be invited to ‘fill a box for a fiver’ or a larger one for a tenner. Not only will the scheme save buyers precious pounds as they replenish their wardrobes, it will also help protect the planet by keeping more clothes out of landfill*. And crucially, as with every sale the shop makes, funds raised will support the specialist end-of-life care we provide for local families affected by terminal illness.

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How Queen’s Nurse Debbie is doing Al proud

When St Luke’s clinical nurse specialist Debbie Hutchinson received her prestigious Queen’s Nurse badge and certificate at a ceremony in London recently, there’s one special person she would have loved to be with her to witness the occasion. Debbie’s late husband, Al, was always 100 per cent behind her ambitions, encouraging her to go for her dreams, and always over the moon when she reached her goals. Knowing that he would have been bursting with pride was one of the main reasons she decided to go through the rigorous assessment process to become a Queen’s Nurse.

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Jenny’s 30 years of making someone’s day a bit better

These days Jenny works part-time, three days a week. In her spare time she loves to go on adventures with her husband, Mark, in the campervan he converted himself.

“I love to travel and my husband flies paragliders, so we often end up going to flying sites around Wales, Cornwall or Scotland, and sometimes abroad to The Alps.”

Jenny doesn’t fly these days, but she especially enjoys long walks with her dog, Dylan the labradoodle, who she describes as “adorable”.

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Kim’s celebrating precious memories of Chris at Christmas…with a little help from St Luke’s

Christmas can be an especially tough time when someone very close to you has died. You know the festive season won’t ever be the same without your special loved one.
That’s something Kim Marshall is acutely aware of following the death of his dear wife, Chris, at their home in Hooe, last January, aged 71. But, after receiving personal support from St Luke’s, Kim feels he’ll be able to treat his first Christmas alone as an opportunity to shine a light on Chris’s life, reflecting on the happy relationship the avid Plymouth Argyle fans shared together for 32 years.

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Top takeaways from inspiring Hospice UK Conference

They say there’s strength, as well as safety, in numbers, especially when you’re in the company of people who share the same aspirations and goals.

That must explain the overwhelming sense of empowerment, togetherness and possibility at the recent Hospice UK conference, where hundreds of us gathered with the common aim of making sure excellent palliative and end of life care is available for everyone who could benefit from it, wherever they live in the UK and whatever their circumstances.

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