As modest as he is kind, Andy Campbell would never describe himself as a ‘hospice hero’, but having reached the milestone of 35 years’ dedicated service with St Luke’s – making him the team’s longest serving current employee – it’s a title that could not be more deserved.
Halfway up a wild and wet Mount Snowdon, George Fletcher felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to find a little girl aged around seven or eight waiting to hand him a £10 note.
She wasn’t the first or last to approach the 85-year-old from Ivybridge as he embraced the enormous challenge of climbing the highest mountain in Wales, accompanied by his son Marc, and family friend Mark Buckham, to raise funds for St Luke’s.
Behind the doors of St Luke’s you will find an intricate web of volunteers keeping our charity running.
This week is Volunteers’ Week (3-9 June), a chance to celebrate the wonderful team of volunteers that keep the cogs of St Luke’s turning. From working in our fleet of shops, to volunteering at our specialist unit, our volunteers are the backbone of our organisation.
“I truly believe that it was the care of St Luke’s that gave my dad the chance to meet his grandson and have six precious weeks with him.”
For every patient we care for, there are family or loved ones going through the unimaginable. Which is why memory making is so important to us. We want to give our patients the chance to live until they die, making precious memories with loved ones.
Jade Moore will be taking part in our Midnight Walk on Friday 12 July in memory of her father, Stuart Moore who died in September last year after being diagnosed with tonsil cancer.
A premier south west car dealership is helping to keep St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth’s expert urgent care services on the road.
The charity’s nursing teams clock up more than 80,000 miles each year, delivering their specialist end of life care direct to the homes of patients all over Plymouth, West Devon, the South Hams and East Cornwall, so it’s vital for them to have transport they can rely on.
This week Roger Young’s recently opened Suzuki showroom, based at Saltash, handed over the keys to a brand new Ignis hybrid four-wheel drive hatchback to bolster the charity’s fleet for the next six months.
Green-fingered volunteers have been busy transforming the gardens at our specialist unit.
Ten volunteers from Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest generously gave their time and skills to clearing out the overgrown gardens at Turnchapel ahead of our new transformation works that will be commencing soon.
The team, who are employed by Plymouth City Council, operate across Plymouth, Dartmoor National Park and the South Hams, providing funding and support to plant trees that will help with biodiversity loss, increase pollinators, capture carbon and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The focus for this year’s Hospice UK Dying Matters Awareness Week (6-12 May) is how we talk about death and dying. Senior palliative care nurse Cathryn Goodchild, lead clinical educator at St Luke’s, asks why people shy away from the “D” words and explains why correct language matters.
Launching yourself out of a plane at 15,000ft may seem daunting to many, but for one granddaughter, losing both her grandparents gave her the motivation and fearlessness that she needed.
Carys Macaskill, from Plympton, recently took part in a skydive for St Luke’s and it was her grandparents who were at the forefront of her thoughts as she took that leap of faith.
A pair of friends will be making every paddle count as they take on an epic challenge in aid of St Luke’s.
Ben Patrick and Gareth Thomas are embarking on a six day kayak challenge along the Jurassic coast today in memory of Ben’s sister Netha and Gareth’s mum.
They came, they ran, they did us proud. A record number of runners gave it everything they’ve got for St Luke’s in the Run Plymouth Half marathon, 10k and 5k on Sunday morning, raising more than £40,000 for our specialist care.
