From bringing out the baking trays to sporting Santa hats, fundraising in the run-up to Christmas can be a lot of fun, so St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth is encouraging local businesses, schools and community groups to get festive on Fridays to help support its vital end of life care.

St Luke’s compassionate specialist team cares for patients 365 days a year and the Christmas period is no different. Over the Christmas week, more than 300 patients will be looked after by the charity’s staff at home, in hospital and at the specialist unit at Turnchapel. The team will also be there supporting patients’ families, and helping them create special memories with their loved one during this special time.

The money raised through Festive Fridays helps ensure this vital care and support continues, and fundraising ideas can be as simple as running a Christmas quiz or a competition to judge the best decoration for the top of the office tree, or donating a small percentage from customers’ bills.

Pete Ward, Community Fundraiser at St Luke’s, said: “Big or small, we love seeing the creative ways people raise money for St Luke’s, and every penny helps make a difference to our patients and their families.

“Whether a school’s cake sale raises £22 for an hour of a nurse’s care or a large business brings in £206 to fund an urgent visit to a patient at home, Festive Friday is a brilliant way to get together and give something back to your community at this special time of year.”

Register for your free fundraising pack!

This Trustees Week (12-16 November) we say a big St Luke’s thank you to our Trustees, all volunteering their time and expertise for the good of our charity.

We caught up with our Chair of The Board, Christina Quinn to find out more about the role of a trustee.

As the Kingsbridge article in last month’s Hospice Herald highlighted, in addition to covering busy urban areas such as central Plymouth, St Luke’s care reaches out across rural areas, including the picturesque South Hams.

While picture-postcard pretty, these more isolated places can leave those residents approaching end of life struggling to access the health and social care they need and short on choice when it comes to their preferred place of receiving the specialist help that’s vital at such a difficult time.

Most people with a life limiting progressive illness want to be looked after in the comfort of their own home, close to loved ones. Cathryn Goodchild is a nurse in St Luke’s at home team for the South Hams and covers Modbury through to Chillington, including Kingsbridge, Salcombe and part of South Brent.

Cathryn said: “I’m very much part of team working alongside our physiotherapists and occupational therapists, and my role includes helping to identify patients’ problems, providing symptom control and working with patients and their families to consider options for future care.

“One of the problems is that due to the rural location we can’t automatically access carers through agencies and know that they can visit three or four times a day to meet the needs of our patients and support their carers and families. We’ve had to find alternatives to the ‘traditional’ package of care.”

This challenge has called for a creative and practical approach from St Luke’s to help ensure people in rural areas benefit from high-quality compassionate care in their preferred place. This can include help with washing and dressing, and sometimes overnight care, too. The key is our flourishing partnership with South Hams Hospital, district nurses and local GP surgeries.

Yvonne Bastin, Livewell Southwest Community Sister at South Hams Hospital, said: “Our rural location does present difficulties, and in the summer when there’s a big influx of visitors it impacts on our roads, so it takes much longer to reach patients. The heavy snow earlier this year was also a significant challenge for us.

“But Cathryn and the team are amazing. And it’s not just their practical support – Cathryn gives us advice on medication and getting care. We work well together on completing forms and she’s always there to help, speaking with our doctors, too. If she doesn’t know something, she’ll always find someone who does, whether that’s a St Luke’s doctor or another member of their team.

“Our patients want to be at home, and they know it’s the last place they’ll be. They want to be with their family, and if we can get them the support they need there – well, that’s the whole purpose of our care.”

It’s always so encouraging when we hear about the challenges our supporters are taking on for St Luke’s, but to hear about an intrepid individual taking on six to raise £40,000? That’s inspiring – and then some!

Busy mum Claire Lemasurier, who lives in Tavistock, generously gives her time to help organise the fundraising skydives for our charity. Now she’s going to greater lengths to raise more funds for our care by taking on six tough expeditions in a year.

To fit in the intensive training needed to tackle her mammoth year of trekking from next April – first in Machu Picchu, followed by Mount Elbrus, Mount Everest base camp, Kilimanjaro and cycling from Vietnam to Cambodia, capped off with the once-in-a-lifetime St Luke’s trek to Malawi in 2020 – Claire dons a 15kg backpack three times a week when she walks to pick her children, aged 10 and 11, from school. She also regularly puts in training at Peak Fitness in Tavistock.

“It’s hard work juggling working, training, volunteering and the kids,” said Claire, who grew up walking on Dartmoor. “But it will be worth it if I can raise all the money. Seeing my kids’ faces when I told them my plan – they were so inspired!”

You can follow Claire’s journey and send her your messages of encouragement at This Girl Can Trek on Facebook and Instagram, help fund her efforts on her GoFundMe page, and if you – or anyone you know – are interested in taking part in our exciting Malawi 2020 Challenge, check out our webpage.

Go, Claire! And thank you for doing something so amazing for St Luke’s.

Can you picture yourself driving about town behind the wheel of a stylish new car? We’re excited to announce that this is the fantastic prize instore for the lucky winner of St Luke’s upcoming raffle!

You’ve got to be in it to win it, so look out for the raffle launch on 12 November, snap up your tickets and you could be the proud owner of a stunning new five-door Suzuki Celerio SZ2 worth over £8,000, and supplied by Rowes Suzuki. Compact yet full of fabulous features, including low CO2 emissions, USB connectivity and alloy wheels, the Celerio is a small car that makes a big impression!

Of course, funds raised from the raffle will support our compassionate care, so please tell family and friends about this amazing opportunity – perhaps you could even pop a raffle ticket inside their Christmas cards this year? Tickets are £1 each and available from our charity shops or online.