This Apprenticeship Week, we’re celebrating the people at St Luke’s who are growing their skills, building their confidence and taking the next step in their careers – all while continuing to make a difference every day.
We now have nine members of staff undertaking apprenticeships across the organisation – from our clinical and care teams to retail, admin, finance, IT and HR.
This week we wanted to shine a light on the nurses who have been leading the way for career development.
Our specialist unit at Turnchapel was filled with festive cheer last week as the kind-hearted TEC Construction helped us to light up our beautiful Christmas tree – standing tall enough for our patients to enjoy its sparkle from their windows.
Thanks to TEC Construction and their local subcontractors at LTC Access Platform and ACD Electrical – the night’s sky was lit up with hundreds of multi-coloured lights and a shining star sitting atop of the impressive tree – watched on by our nurses, patients, family members and members of our community including children from Hooe Primary Academy who graced everyone with a selection of beautifully sung Christmas carols.
Step up for each other, stride out for hospice care – St Luke’s Men’s Day Out is back for 2026!
Walk with us on Saturday 14 March 2026 and show families in our community they’re not alone. By joining the mass of big-hearted men marching through Plymouth, you’ll help bring St Luke’s compassionate, expert care to those who need it most.
We believe in celebrating the special people who are no longer with us, especially during the festive season, which can sometimes be particularly difficult.
As you know, at St Luke’s, we are here to support terminally ill patients and their families who will be spending their final Christmas together, as well as those facing their first Christmas without a dear loved one.
The one thing we never forget is that people are not just their illnesses – their illness is something that happens to them. With that in mind, we make sure we focus on the entire life of each individual patient and what matters most to them and their family members. We do our best to provide the support that allows them to enjoy and make the very most of the time they have left together. And later, we carry on being there for those left behind as they cope with the pain of loss.
We invite you all to join us at our Light Up a Life Remembrance Services on Tuesday 16 December to remember and celebrate those we have loved.
When 13-year-old Joseph realised that he wouldn’t be able to make it to our Tour de Moor ride on Sunday, he didn’t let disappointment slow him down. Instead, he took on the challenge a week early, determined not to miss out on the event he had been looking forward to all year.
Avid bike lover, Joseph Florey, from Sherford, took part in our Tour de Moor with his dad for the first time last year. He loved it so much that he couldn’t wait to do it all over again this year and so signed up as soon as possible.
However unfortunately, he is due to undergo an operation just before the big day, meaning he would miss this year’s event. But Joseph was not going to let that stop him from completing the challenge. He got out on his bike at the weekend and battled the weather to ride the 11km route and has raised more than £100 in the process.
“Supporting St Luke’s through the Ironman feels like the closest thing I can offer to a thank-you note.”
Pete Thacker completed the Leeds Ironman last week – consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run – in memory of his brother David, who was cared for by St Luke’s back in 2023.
Pete, from Otley, near Leeds is a self-described “keen albeit rather slow cyclist and runner”. He decided to take on his second Ironman in Leeds on July 27, completing it in a fantastic 13 hours and16 minutes.
“I completed my first Ironman around twelve years ago, but the body is older now and responding to training in slightly more painful ways than it did back then! That said, there’s nothing quite like the sense of achievement when you cross the finish line whether you run, walk or crawl over it. There’s a strange enjoyment in pushing yourself to that point. When you come into the transition area for the second time to start the run, someone always says, ‘last bit now’ but what they don’t mention is that the last bit is a full marathon!”
Here at St Luke’s, our services go beyond hands-on care. One important strand to our work is educating and empowering people in what good end of life care looks like.
Daniella Bright is our first overseas student studying our online module titled ‘Enhancing end of life care and palliative care practice’ in collaboration with the University of Plymouth. The aim of the module is to enable health and social care practitioners to develop a critical and reflective approach to caring for those living and dying with a life-limiting condition.
Daniella has been using her learning to assist her in her role as a Night Sister at St Bernard’s Hospital in Gibraltar, where she has been working since qualifying as a Staff Nurse back in 2013. Prior to her role as Night Sister, she was the Charge Nurse of the hospital’s Rehabilitation Ward.
Already a favourite fixture for value, variety and sustainable shopping, St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth’s charity shop in Tavistock town centre has relaunched with a brand-new look. The fresh design and layout are designed to keep customers flocking in to browse and buy in support of local hospice care.
Following its three-week closure for the full-scale transformation, the shop once again opened its doors on Wednesday 23 July, welcoming bargain-hunters keen to check out the new interior and stock. Gone are the familiar orange décor and dated shelving, replaced by smart purple walls and contemporary black furnishings.
There to cut the ribbon was St Luke’s community team, part of our dedicated service looking after patients at home so that they can receive bespoke end-of-life care in their own familiar surroundings, close to loved ones.
Age is no barrier when it comes to our Midnight Walkers. At 78 and 87, Jean Turfkruyer and Bernie Massey will be some of our oldest participants at our Midnight Walk on Friday, but the friends are not letting their age stop them from taking part and making a difference.
Jean and Bernie are two of our Compassionate Friends who volunteer at our Friends in the Park Compassionate Café at the Well Being Hub at Central Park.
The pair first met four years ago when the café was first set up for members of the community who are experiencing loss, bereavement or maybe affected by life limiting illness to meet.
We officially reopened our beloved Plymstock Bookshop in its brand-new home on The Broadway Plymstock on Monday— and who better to cut the ribbon than The Gruffalo himself!
Rosie and Sophie, two of our very first visitors, were thrilled to meet our special guest.
Over the past year, we’ve sold more than 27,000 books to 16,300 customers — all from under 200 square feet! Now, we’ve quadrupled our space to welcome even more book lovers and stories.
