With an estimated £140million of used clothing being sent to landfill each year in the UK*, one of the city’s best-loved charities has joined forces with talented students to show that buying outfits second hand not only boosts our wardrobes and wallets but benefits the world at large, too.

When first-year commercial photography students from Plymouth College of Art sought St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth’s help for a ‘high end’ fashion shoot with a difference, the charity – which has over 30 shops across Plymouth and surrounding areas where it cares for patients at end of life – was keen to help, giving them free rein to raid the rails of its city centre Drake store in Cornwall Street to find suitably stylish secondhand items.

With the students having mixed expectations about the quality and range of items they might find there, the experience proved a real eye-opener for the budding photographers – Ben Given, Bethan Madeley, Catherine Hyde, Mi Kelly, Paris Netherton and Rosie Hartshorn – as well as producer, student Alice Conway, models Laura McGowen and Abi Baldwin, plus the hair and make-up team of City College Plymouth students involved.

Not only were they blown away by the bargain prices of the impressive range of high-quality pre-loved dresses, coats, shoes and accessories, they pooled their talents to make the outfits look a million dollars in the images they captured against the suitably elegant backdrop of Mount Edgecumbe House in Cornwall.

Student photographer Mi Kelly said: “Initially, we were a bit sceptical and weren’t sure we’d find enough high-quality items in a charity shop, but we couldn’t have been more wrong. Our trawl netted really well-made clothing and great accessories that with a bit of savvy styling looked fantastic in our photographs. It has changed my perception of charity shops – you can find treasure there!”

Also impressed was the students’ tutor, Lecturer Carri Angel. She said: “The majority of our students have grown up with ‘fast fashion’, where many brands promote cheap items designed to be disposed of after minimal wear. These students are the influential image-makers of the future so it’s important that we challenge them to be part of the solution to the problem. They’ve proved that secondhand in no way means second rate.”

So pleased is St Luke’s with the fashion shoot photographs it is planning to display them in the Drake charity shop windows shortly.

Shop Manager Julie Bickford said: “It’s great that while the images are high end, the outfits sourced from our shop are absolute bargains – a whole outfit perfect for a new year ball for just £35! Just shows you can be stylish in a sustainable way, all while supporting a fantastic local cause.”

*Figure from Wrap UK

Learn more about our shops.

St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth has long been renowned locally for the outstanding end of life care it provides across the city and surrounding areas and now the charity has received prestigious national recognition as Hospice Team of the Year.

Staff and volunteers received the accolade in this year’s Hospice UK Awards, which celebrate the innovative work and people in hospices and palliative care organisations across the UK.

St Luke’s entry for the award centred on its Patches pre-bereavement support for young families.

The service – which launched as a pilot in November 2017 – was developed in response to the changing hospice environment, with St Luke’s seeing an increase in the number of patients under 40 needing its specialist care at home, in hospital and at its specialist unit at Turnchapel.

With most of these patients having young children, they have the daunting task of preparing their young children for their death, which can add extra anxiety at an already challenging time. Meanwhile, the youngsters face the heartbreak of losing a parent and can experience feelings of confusion and fear.

With this in mind, and recognising the positive lasting impact of sensitive, age appropriate support for children in these circumstances, staff and volunteers from across the organisation rallied to develop and deliver a solution that provides bespoke support for each individual family as part as of the seamless package of compassionate care for which St Luke’s is known.

Adapting the existing national pre-bereavement support model, clinical and non-clinical teams came together as one, with doctors and nurses sharing ideas and skills with their social care colleagues, the communications and fundraising teams, maintenance and receptionists.

While St Luke’s has an outstanding Patches Family Support Worker in Lisa Carter, who is there for young families facing loss, her work is enabled and supported by a much wider team across St Luke’s.

Patches, the koi carp cartoon character, and the materials he features in to engage young children and help them make memories with their family, was created by talented in-house graphic designer, Jesse-James Cambridge and volunteer illustrator Marie Arroyo Lopez, while the maintenance team transformed the playroom and implemented the Patches trail around the specialist unit at Turnchapel. In addition, staff and volunteer receptionists ensure a warm welcome at the unit and give out direction for the trail.

Since its launch, the service has helped 134 families.

The outstanding teamwork involved stood out to the Hospice UK judging panel who said, “The project has made an impact to not only its service users but also to its own staff and will help promote the hospice to the local community too. The Patches project can be replicated in other hospices very easily.”

On her recent visit to St Luke’s Tracey Bleakley Chief Executive of Hospice UK said: “I am so impressed by the innovation at the hospice actually, and the fact it comes from all levels. It’s a really great culture of everyone listening, learning and innovating from each other. When ideas come from junior members of staff or people out there working with families like Patches, it’s so impressive how everyone supports that all the way through to the board. Money is found for the project, people work together and the outcome is fantastic and what that really means is that it’s a hospice that’s growing and developing with the community and will continue to do so”.

Steve Statham, Chief Executive of St Luke’s, said: “I’m delighted and proud that the passion, dedication and hard work of our staff and volunteers has been recognised nationally by Hospice UK.

“The hospice movement is renowned for being pioneering, willing to take on a challenge, respond and adapt. Our Patches pre-bereavement support is a shining example of hospice care at its most creative, and it is really heart-warming to see how many families have been helped and how many young lives have been made just that little bit easier.”

Patches is kindly supported by The Morrisons Foundation.

Learn more about Patches.

Watch the behind the scenes making of Patches

With a single call from a healthcare professional, people who urgently need specialist end of life care at home can access high-quality and seamlessly co-ordinated rapid response treatment thanks to St Luke’s Urgent Care Service.

The new service unites specialist nurses from Livewell Southwest, Marie Curie and what was formerly known as St Luke’s Crisis Team to provide better co-ordinated care for terminally ill patients during a time of change or at end of life.

The redesigned service makes it easier than ever for those needing our bespoke compassionate care to receive it quickly regardless of their location within St Luke’s catchment area. Importantly, the service also reduces unnecessary admissions to hospital.

The launch of the service saw us welcome ten Livewell Southwest employees – including administrative staff as well as nurses – who have formally transferred to our organisation, donning a new lilac-coloured uniform, and Marie Curie nurses seconded to the team, making 33 staff in total.

Working in partnership with Marie Curie means our urgent care will continue to reach across Plymouth and its surrounding areas from 8am to 10pm, seven days a week.

Key improvements to the service include a simplified system to reduce paperwork while maintaining quality assurance and the ability to tailor our care more quickly to a patient’s changing needs.

Andrew Shaw, Head of Community Services at St Luke’s, said: “The service was initially launched as a pilot in February 2017. Many patients have benefitted but there is room for enhancement.

“We can now more easily determine where patients are with their condition – stable, unstable, deteriorating or dying – which means they benefit from the right care, at the right level, at their right time. This makes us more effective, enabling us to prioritise patients in most urgent need of our bespoke care, so our time, specialist knowledge and skills are being given when really needed.

“During a terminal illness a patient’s condition varies and their care needs change. Whereas they might require three visits a day for a while, at other times once daily is sufficient. This frees up our time to help more people while not compromising the quality of our care.

“We also follow up with patients when they’re discharged from hospital or our specialist unit at Turnchapel, and – in situations where people no longer require our care because their condition has improved – we work with them and other care providers to make sure they continue to get the appropriate support.

Service Manager Sharon Smerdon said: “The new service is a shining example of how healthcare providers are responding to the challenge of developing a more co-ordinated and person-centred service in line with the government’s Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care.

“When someone is at the end of life, it can be a very worrying time for them and their family, which can be exacerbated if accessing the care is frustrating.

“Being more innovative in the way we work, with a ‘one team’ approach and single point of entry to our service, means we’re more accessible to the GPs and others who refer patients to us. Now, with one call to our service, they can get the feedback they need so that patients can receive the right care more quickly.

“It is encouraging to see how our Crisis team has evolved in this way. We’re so pleased to welcome the new members of the team and looking forward to working with them. We will continue to work closely with Livewell Southwest community nursing teams who care for and support people at the end of life.”

Sharon King, Palliative and End of Life Organisation Lead for Livewell Southwest, said: “Helping someone at the end of their life is a privilege. It’s the last opportunity we get to do the right thing for someone, and at Livewell we share St Luke’s and Marie Curie’s aims to make the service the best it can be.

“By creating this Urgent Care Service, we are making it easier for people, their families and loved ones to get the right help quickly and easily, at a difficult and emotional time.”

Susan Egerton, Clinical Nurse Manager at Marie Curie added: “We have seen a huge benefit to patients and referrers since launching this joint service. By developing the service further, we will not only continue to ease some of the strain a family will experience when a loved one is terminally ill, but also ensure patients receive fantastic care that is right for them, at the right time. We look forward to continuing the great work.”

In true St Luke’s style, the team is sharing its learning with other healthcare providers so that more people benefit.

Learn more

For many, Christmas is about making happy memories with family and friends, but if you’ve lost a loved one you sometimes miss them even more during the festivities, and this time of year can feel particularly challenging.

As part of its annual Light up a Life campaign, St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth is offering people the opportunity to celebrate the life of a special person no longer with them by dedicating a light on the display that will adorn its specialist unit at Turnchapel this December. Both this and the chance to dedicate a bauble on the charity’s Christmas tree at the unit are available to anyone, regardless of whether their loved one received St Luke’s end of life care.

Light is symbolic of hope in the midst of difficult circumstances, and the lights on the outside of the unit and baubles on the tree in ‘The View’ conservatory at Turnchapel will shine for patients and their families to enjoy this Christmas period.

St Luke’s is also inviting those who’ve lost someone close to join with others in similar circumstances at its uplifting Light up a Life services in December.

These joyous services are taking place at churches across the area. This year’s programme starts with a service at Saltash Wesley Methodist Church on Wednesday 5 December, at 7pm, and is followed by services at Tavistock St Eustachius Church on Thursday 6 December, at 7pm, and the Minster of St Andrew’s, Plymouth, on Tuesday 18 December, at 2pm, 5.30pm and 7.30pm.

Those wishing to attend do not need to register or have tickets. There is the opportunity to give voluntary donations on the day.

As is annual tradition, hospice volunteers and keen runners will carry a lit torch all the way from St Luke’s specialist unit at Turnchapel to the Minster of St Andrew’s to light the large candles inside, which are in turn used to light smaller candles held by the congregation.

Rebecca Kelly, Events Fundraiser at St Luke’s, said: “While Christmas is a special time, we know it can often be tinged with sadness when you’ve lost someone dear. It’s traditional for St Luke’s to help people who want to celebrate the life of a lost loved one, and dedicating a light or a bauble are lovely ways to do that and also make a difference to those who need our specialist care.

“In addition, our beautiful Light up a Life services are an opportunity for people who’ve lost loved ones to come together to reflect, celebrate those lives and share their memories.”

It is estimated that over the Christmas week, around 350 patients will be receiving specialist end of life care from St Luke’s as part of the 3,531 patients they treat each year. Donations from the community raised by these and other events support terminally ill people wherever they wish to be cared for – in their homes, at Derriford Hospital or at Turnchapel.

Light up a Life is kindly sponsored by Western Power Distribution.

It was a bright and early start for the cream of local businesses we welcomed to Turnchapel today for a Devon Chamber of Commerce Crunchy Breakfast.

Ensuring our workplaces are truly compassionate to staff who are bereaved, living with loss or caring for someone at the end of life was top of the menu.

Over coffee and bacon baps, conversations highlighted how being more aware of staff’s circumstances and taking simple steps – such as adapting existing policies – can make a big difference to the health and wellbeing of employees, helping them feel better supported during challenging times.

Bringing the topic into the foreground is all part of the Compassionate City Charter endorsed by Plymouth City Council – watch this space for further news.