Tag Archive for: volunteering

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BLOG: Volunteer Sheila’s seaside stay

Our volunteers are a truly inspiring bunch. They selflessly give up their time to help others, rarely getting time themselves to relax and unwind.

Which is why we were overjoyed when one of our dedicated volunteers was awarded a special mini-break thanks to Room to Reward, a volunteer-recognition charity who offer UK based breaks for hidden heroes.

Sheila Eccleston, who lives in Hooe, has been volunteering for half a day every week on our reception at our specialist unit at Turnchapel for the last decade, having celebrated her 10 year anniversary in November last year. It was her unwavering dedication and kind-hearted nature that meant she was nominated for the reward.

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BLOG: Military nurses sign up for garden duty

Nurses’ hands aren’t only for delivering compassionate care. A band of community-minded military nurses put their green fingers to good use recently on voluntary weeding and seeding duty in the grounds of our specialist unit at Turnchapel.

It’s hard graft every day on the wards of Derriford Hospital for the members of the Joint Hospital Group South West, so it was a breath of fresh air for them to roll up their sleeves and lend St Luke’s garden team a hand last week.

When they’d finished outdoors, they spruced up the Memory Tree in the conservatory at Turnchapel, polishing the leaves so that each one shines brightly for the special loved one they honour.

The enthusiastic Armed Forces group were pictured at the end of their afternoon session along with St Luke’s maintenance worker Dave, maintenance volunteer John, and specialist unit nurse Rachel.

Laura Champion, lead for the JHGSW group said: “We really enjoyed the experience and it’s something we would do again. In fact, we would like to make it a regular thing.

“We’d had end of life training, learning about what to do when someone dies on board ship. We decided we wanted to do something useful for St Luke’s for our team building session, so we emailed to offer our services.”

Laura, who toured the specialist unit with group member Poppy Archer-Dunne as part of their first ever visit, added: “We do get patients who go on to be cared for at St Luke’s specialist unit and it really helps to be able to picture where they are coming to.

“We were aware of St Luke’s excellent work in Derriford, but it was so beneficial to get a better understanding of the unit and find out how St Luke’s operates in the community.”

Poppy said that as well as giving St Luke’s a helping hand, the nurses got a lot back from by their visit.

“It’s lovely and peaceful here – it has a very nice vibe. I found it really therapeutic. We were very lucky with the weather, and we were very well looked after.”

Plymouth is the base port for all the nurses – a mix of Royal Navy and RAF personnel. They keep their skills up by working at Derriford in between deployments.

“A lot of the nurses are a long way from home, with many living at HMS Drake, and they don’t know Plymouth very well. It was great for us to get out of the city a bit and enjoy the amazing views here.”

At St Luke’s we welcome volunteer groups from local organisations and businesses. Our corporate volunteering days are great for team building, while supporting end-of-life care in your community. Find out more by emailing corporate@stlukes-hospice.org.uk

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BLOG: St Luke’s makes historic return to Kingsbridge

The doors have opened on St Luke’s latest shop, marking a fresh and exciting era for the charity’s presence in Kingsbridge and a community minded new identity for one of the South Hams town’s landmark buildings.

The ground floor of a distinctive Grade II listed former inn at the bottom of Fore Street has been sensitively refurbished to create an attractive and spacious store. Open seven days a week, 9.30am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sundays, the new shop is selling pre-loved clothing for women, men and children, shoes and accessories, jewellery, books and bric-a-brac, as well as smaller items of brand new flat-packed furniture, such as tables, chairs and TV stands.

St Luke’s previously ran a popular, but much smaller, outlet at the top of the town for more than 25 years but, sadly, it closed during the Covid pandemic. The new store at the bottom of Fore Street is not only much larger, it has also helped to inject fresh life into a building with a fascinating past and some lovely architectural features.

Research by St Luke’s volunteer and fundraiser Colin Pincombe has revealed that the site started life in the mid-18th century as the Blue Anchor Inn and brewhouse. The eight-bedroom hotel, which boasted a bar, butcher’s shop and stables, was popular with masters of vessels sailing between Kingsbridge, Plymouth and further afield from what was then known as Dodbrooke Quay. Builders carrying out the recent refurbishments discovered clay pipes consistent with those times.

The present three-storey stucco structure dates back to the 1860s, and its exterior was listed for preservation in 1972. The building was modernised and renamed the Quay Hotel by its new owners, Courage Brewery, in the early 1980s and it eventually closed in 2015. Now the building has had a sensitive makeover and houses St Luke’s on the ground floor, complete with original fireplace and 19th century brickwork, with residential accommodation above.

Shop manager Maureen Clarke and assistants Molly Brown, Sarah Hunt and Julie Stephens, who all live in Kingsbridge, are eager to welcome customers and receive quality donated items. Maureen is very experienced in the sector, having previously managed two other charity shops in the town, and she has great connections within the community, including the rugby club and the fantastic annual Ride for Tina event in aid of St Luke’s.

She and her team will be supported by a band of local volunteers and Maureen has already recruited a core of around seven, many of whom have worked with her in the past.

Over the past few months, other St Luke’s shops have been saving and storing items to stock the rails and shelves at Kingsbridge in its first couple of weeks.

“They have been amazing. A lot of the stock we have on display now is designer labels,” said Maureen. “If you have a good-looking shop and a good layout, then you attract good quality donations.”

In addition, she is thrilled that the people and businesses of Kingsbridge and surrounding areas are lining up to help.

“People are saying they are glad that St Luke’s is back in the town. They are happy that we have this building because they know it will provide much needed income for such a good cause. And I’m excited to educate people who don’t know exactly what St Luke’s does and how the money is spent on such important care.”

St Luke’s retail area manager Kerry Hearn said: “We are absolutely delighted to return to Kingsbridge and open a new St Luke’s shop in this wonderful historic space. The town has always supported us so generously in the past and we’re sure people will love the new premises.

“By donating your pre-loved items or shopping for bargains with us you will be supporting the crucial work of St Luke’s expert compassionate teams who are caring for people from the town and surrounding area, 365 days a year, at the most difficult and emotional of times.”

If you would like to get involved, either volunteering in the shop or assisting with fundraising in the local area please call into the shop or email volunteer@stlukes-hospice.org.uk

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BLOG: Tour de Moor: We ride as one for hospice care

 

It’s bold, it’s brave, it’s big-hearted and it’s the best fun you can have on a bike while backing your local hospice. Yes, St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth’s ever-popular Tour de Moor cycle event returns on Sunday 8 October with plenty of on and off-road challenges, new and old, to thrill and delight every rider, regardless of age or ability.

Are you ready to get on your bike and join us to embrace the mud, sweat and gears of this exhilarating on and off-road experience in the wilds of beautiful Dartmoor? Feel a sense of belonging, purpose, and achievement as we ride as one to raise funds to support hospice care in our community.

Our Tour de Moor is best known as an adrenaline-packed two-wheel quest that can test the skills, fitness, and endurance of even the toughest of cyclists. But it’s so much more than that. With three distances and difficulty levels to choose from, it’s the ultimate inclusive family friendly cycling adventure. You can even join in if your bike is electric or you’re still using stabilisers, and for the first time there’s a unique challenge for school groups to discover.

Which route will you choose?

  • Beast Mode: 52km of cycling at its fiercest (12 years old and above, entry fee £35) – an enhanced route based on your feedback.
  • Adventurer Style: 33km of tough riding (9 years old and above, entry fee £35) ­– an exciting new route for 2023 based on Dartmoor National Park’s Granite and Gears Cycle Trail.
  • Mini-Moor: 11km ride along Drake’s Trail (suitable for the whole family, entry fee £15)

Your fee covers our costs to run this event, but it’s your sponsorship and generous donations that really make the difference. If everyone commits to raising a minimum of £100 you’ll be helping as a collective to provide a full package of care at home for 100 local families at their most difficult of times – and you’ll be entered into our draw to win a fantastic prize.

Sponsored by Print Copy Scan, a local supplier of printers and copiers, our Tour de Moor challenge departs from Harrowbeer Airfield (near Yelverton) on the Sunday morning and finishes there, too.

Join us as we ride as one!

Sign up today here.

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BLOG: A trip to the shops shines a light on St Luke’s amazing volunteers

 

It’s no exaggeration to say that St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth couldn’t deliver its crucial and compassionate end of life care without the support of its army of big-hearted volunteers who give their time and talents for free. This Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June) St Luke’s is saluting them all with a huge, heartfelt thank you, and new CEO Christina Quinn has been out and about meeting a few of these very special people in person.

The charity has an amazing 668 regular volunteers – 464 of them in the charity’s shops across Plymouth, West Devon, the South Hams and East Cornwall, sorting donations, steaming and hanging clothing, creating displays and serving customers.

Christina’s whistlestop tour took in three popular stores, where she got a feel for who St Luke’s retail volunteers are and why they choose to do what they do.

She says: “We get so much from the volunteers, but what is lovely is that they all said how much they get from it as well and they have real pride in supporting the vital work of St Luke’s.

“Visiting the Plymstock, Elburton and Transit Way shops it was clear how much the store managers appreciate and value their volunteers, as we all do too. None of us can do this without them.”

During her visits, Christina heard some heartening stories from individual volunteers, each with unique backgrounds and experiences but with the same aim in mind.

Barbara

A volunteer with special niche knowledge can be a real boon to St Luke’s shop managers. Barbara Daniel used to have an antiques shop on the Barbican and she would sometimes come in to St Luke’s to help value jewellery donations.

After she and her husband closed their business, Barbara began volunteering twice a week at our Plymstock shop where she’s now the resident jewellery expert. Using her keen eye, she takes a good look at items when they arrive, spotting anything that could potentially be quite valuable and doing her homework to make sure the price is right to raise as much as possible to support St Luke’s end of life care.

Barbara is delighted to use her expertise and has identified a few choice pieces that have sold for between £400 and £500.

She says: “I think most volunteers feel like it’s a social occasion to come here and meet people. It keeps the brain ticking over as you get older. I certainly missed it during the lockdown.”

Barbara also loves hunting down bargains in St Luke’s shops. When her son got married recently, both she and her daughter found their glamorous outfits for the big day in one of the charity’s stores.

They each discovered almost new dress and jacket ensembles that would originally have cost hundreds of pounds. Of course, generous Barbara donated hers straight back to St Luke’s after she’d worn it!

Julie

Volunteering for St Luke’s is especially poignant for Julie Lukehurst, a recent recruit at the Elburton shop. Hospital doctors told her that her cancer was incurable and that the best thing for her would be palliative care at St Luke’s specialist unit at Turnchapel.

“I was offered a bed but said I wouldn’t be going there because I wasn’t dying,” recalls Julie.  Four years later she is in remission, managing her illness with medication and pacing her energy through good and bad days. “I think it’s fantastic that St Luke’s is there. That’s why I want to give something back.

“I’ve always worked but couldn’t when I was unwell and I missed it. I moved to a little cottage just down the road from the Elburton shop and used to come in as a customer. One day Rachel the manager asked me if I’d like to volunteer.”

Julie is now quickly learning the ropes volunteering twice a week, sorting stock and serving customers, and she’s mastering the till, even though she’s a self-confessed technophobe.

“I get more pleasure out of being here than I do anywhere. Everyone here is so lovely and friendly and we’re all here for the same reason – to make money for care.  But it’s also a social thing. I could easily stay at home seeing nobody,” says Julie.

Darren

Darren King is a carer for his wife, so he’s unable to go into paid employment. But he loves volunteering at St Luke’s Transit Way shop, just five minutes’ walk from home so he can run back if he’s needed. Working in the shop gives him a sense of purpose and a break from being in the house all the time.

“I just love being here. This is my baby, and the people are like family to me, especially Steve, the manager. He makes work a pleasure.

“The satisfaction you get when you put something through the till and you know it’s going to such a good cause is amazing. There’s no better feeling than clearing £1,000 and knowing that will pay for someone to be cared for at home – it’s a goal we all set for ourselves. We all take pride in the store and it’s really rewarding.”

On the day Christina visited Darren was working alongside a team of fellow volunteers including regulars Mel, Pam and Sue, all supervised by manager Steve Evans. He says it takes a minimum of 10 volunteers to help run the large Transit Way clothing shop and the adjacent bric-a-brac store. There’s a constant stream of donated items being brought in by customers, many on their way to the supermarket next door, and they all need checking, sorting and pricing.

Christina was impressed and humbled by her shop visits. She says: “Every single individual makes a unique contribution towards our shared goal to provide the very best holistic care for people with terminal illness at the end of their lives and compassionate support for their loved ones.

“Barbara, Julie and Darren are all doing a fantastic job and it’s so great to know that they enjoy what they do and get satisfaction from knowing they are giving something back.”

St Luke’s is always looking for more volunteers to help in our shops for a few hours or more each week. These are the stores that are currently in urgent need of more helping hands:  Western Approach/Toys ’R’ Us, Shabby Chic on the Barbican, Sugar Mill, Drake and New George Street in the city centre, Plymstock Bookshop, Tavistock and Launceston.

If you have some time to spare and would like to get involved in a worthwhile cause working alongside like-minded people, find out more and get in touch via our volunteering page or email volunteer@stlukes-hospice.org.uk.

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BLOG: Marking volunteer Margarethe’s silver service at St Luke’s

Back in 1998 Margarethe Marsh walked into her local St Luke’s charity shop and offered to help once a week. Twenty-five years on, she’s still volunteering at our Saltash branch and loving every minute of it.

This week shop manager Hayley Pollard was joined by St Luke’s head of retail Mike Picken and retail area manager John Saunders to congratulate Margarethe on her inspirational long service and present her with an engraved plaque, a certificate of recognition and flowers, as well as plenty of cake to share with her shop colleagues.

When Margarethe began volunteering, the Saltash St Luke’s shop was at the top of Fore Street, virtually next door to the opticians where she worked part time. Looking for something worthwhile to fill her time after her two daughters had grown up and left home, she popped in to ask her friend Brenda, then the shop manager, if she could lend a hand.

“And the rest is history,” laughed Margarethe, 74, whose infectious smile and ready humour light up the whole shop. “I knew Brenda socially and I had heard about St Luke’s, Dr Sheila Cassidy and the history of how it all started.

“I didn’t have any personal family reason for getting involved – I was very lucky then to have a healthy family – but it was a way for me to give something back.”

Living locally with her husband, she has been a stalwart of the volunteer team at Saltash once a week ever since, moving with the shop when it relocated to more modern and spacious premises closer to the Tamar Bridge around eight years ago.

Turning her hand to anything that needs doing, from serving customers and manning the till to sorting through donations, steaming clothes, pricing items and putting them out for sale on the shop floor, Margarethe says nothing much has changed over the years, apart from people’s attitudes to charity shops.

“They don’t have the stigma they used to,” says Margarethe. “There’s certainly nothing musty or smelly about this place and we’re very lucky with the donations and support we get here. Because St Luke’s is local, people are very generous.”

One of the aspects she enjoys most is the chance to spend time with a wide variety of people and she has a special camaraderie with her fellow volunteers and a great relationship with manager Hayley, as well as regular customers.

“It gives me friendship and a reason to be out,” adds Margarethe, whose activities have become a little restricted by a degenerative eye condition. “I can’t read, the TV is blurry and I’ve had to give away all my craft materials because I can’t see well enough any more. But there is always something useful for me to do here.”

She especially enjoys meeting the younger volunteers. “It’s lovely because you can be cheeky and fun with them. You can give them the benefit of your experience and you can learn a lot from them too.”

Find out more about volunteering with St Luke’s here.

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BLOG: Reflections from CEO Steve

With my retirement as St Luke’s Chief Executive coming up on 4 May, I want to take this opportunity to say what an immense privilege it has been to serve at the helm of our hospice for the past six years.

It would be far too difficult to home in on just one or two memories that I will take with me from my time as CEO, and my years as Deputy and HR Director before that, so instead I’ll share the overriding feeling I am left with as I approach retirement.

It really has been way more than a job – it has been the most incredible journey, working alongside our amazing staff and volunteers, and I speak from my heart when I say I am very proud of what we have achieved together, always putting the best interests of our patients and their families at the centre of what we do.

I want to say a huge thank-you to everyone I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with at St Luke’s. The dedication all our staff and volunteers show to our community day in, day out is second to none, and I say this recognising that maintaining such a high calibre of service is often very challenging in the face of growing demands on our hospice team. I am so grateful to have ended my career at a place where everyone cares so much and is working towards the same, shared goal.  

The decision to step away has not been an easy one, but I am retiring at the time that feels right for me, professionally and personally, and with the assurance of knowing that St Luke’s incoming CEO, Christina Quinn, is absolutely the best pair of hands to receive the reins from me.

She will be supported by the same great group of senior management colleagues I have been fortunate enough to work alongside.

For those of you who don’t already know, until last November Christina was Chair of our charity’s Board of Trustees. She comes with not only her trademark dynamism and many years’ experience at senior level within the NHS, but also the knowledge, wisdom and insight gained from six years of leading our governing body, during which time we have weathered the pandemic and gone through transformation.

I want to thank current Chair of Trustees Charles Hackett (and former Chair Christina), and every other member of our board for their support over the years. Being a trustee is a massive responsibility and they work tirelessly to steer our charity safely towards our vision. We could not do what we do without them.

As I prepare for my retirement (I’m still getting used to that word!) and then ‘decompressing’ from the huge responsibility of running a hospice, I want to let you know that I am not thinking of this as ‘goodbye’. While I won’t be interfering in the running of St Luke’s, I’ll be following St Luke’s with interest and great affection – and you’re bound to see me pop up, getting muddy at Tour de Moor and no doubt volunteering at Midnight Walk.

In signing off this last message as St Luke’s CEO, I want to say thank you again to everyone for their support in making sure St Luke’s continues to be the safe haven our community needs for anyone diagnosed with, or affected by, life-limiting illness.

Thank you.

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BLOG: The journey of a donated sofa

How Stuart’s bargain sofa made Sandie smile and boosted our funds for patient care

Around this festive time of year we’re bombarded with TV ads for big name furniture brands, urging us to buy a new sofa or suite in the sales.

In these challenging financial times, choosing a pre-loved option from one of our charity shops not only makes great economic sense, it’s also better for the environment and supports our care for patients and their loved ones.

We followed a three-piece suite, kindly donated to St Luke’s, on its journey to a grateful new home and measured its impact on the charity.

 When Stuart Cann and his wife, Leanne, ordered a brand new sofa suite there was never any doubt about the destination of their old one. They were going to donate it to St Luke’s Plymouth.

Old is actually the wrong word for the elegant, grey four-seater sofa with matching chair and big, circular footstool that used to grace the football-mad family’s lounge. Less than three years old, it was as smart and comfortable as the day it arrived, and already held good memories for the couple and their children Ella, 13, and Thomas, nine.

“I’ve sat there and enjoyed many a beer and takeaway watching the football. And we had a lot of friends round, crammed into the lounge to watch the Euros,” recalled Stuart.

But as part of an extensive renovation programme at their house in Plymstock, they were having a clean sweep and the suite had to go.

“There was nothing wrong with that settee. We could have put it on one of the marketplace apps and got some money for it. But there are people in more need than us and St Luke’s is a deserving charity, so we thought why not donate it so someone can pick up a decent sofa at a much lower cost,” said Stuart. “Plus, I knew St Luke’s was happy to pick up large furniture, so that made it easy for us.”

Although they have no personal link to St Luke’s, Stuart, a mechanical and electrical project manager, and Leanne, who works in HR at Babcock, had heard about the charity’s end of life care. They believe in giving back to the community when they can and have taken on the challenge of several half marathons and other running events to support cancer and dementia charities.

Meanwhile, Sandie was on a mission to find a sofa – and other essential furniture – for the empty new home of friends who were returning to live in Plymouth after working in America.

Trying to stick to a budget, she’d spent the day trawling charity and second-hand shops around Plymouth with no luck at all. She said: “I went in one shop and everything was out of the 1970s. It was awful… I came out so disheartened.”

Sandie was just about to give up hope and drive away empty-handed when she struck gold at St Luke’s large furniture store on Western Approach. Having one more go at her quest to find something good, reasonably priced and in great condition, she popped into the old ToysRUs building.

“I wandered around but didn’t find anything. I was just leaving when I saw two guys walking towards me carrying a sofa and I moved out of the way for them,” said Sandie. “I thought it looked very nice so I followed them through the store and asked if it was for sale. They said yes, they had just brought it in from the back store.”

She knew immediately that it was the one and decided to buy it straight away. “I was absolutely thrilled. I just love it; it’s so comfortable and it’s still a current sofa in the shop it came from. And I knew it could have it within days. If you order one new it’s still a 6-12 week wait before you can have it delivered.”

Sandie was surprised and delighted to discover such a brilliant quality bargain, and in a shop supporting a charity that is dear to her heart. She was happy to learn that the money raised by the sale of the sofa is the equivalent of St Luke’s providing a full package of care and support for a patient and their family at home.

Sandie’s sister, Vanessa was only 50 when she was diagnosed late with Stage 4 cancer and died at St Luke’s specialist care unit at Turnchapel.

“We only had weeks with her left and St Luke’s hospice care and nurses were just amazing – not only for the patient but for us as family members because we are struggling too and they understand that. Nothing was too much bother for them.”

Sandie, who always donates her own unwanted items, said: “Charity shops are not like they used to be. I remember going in with my mum when I was young and it was terrible – full of old people’s stuff and it would smell. I couldn’t bear it. But you go in now and it’s very modern. I was really surprised by the quality when I went in St Luke’s. It’s definitely worth looking in there.”

Sandie isn’t the only one whose is delighted with the new sofa. Doodles – her tiny 12-year-old Yorkipoo – loves it too.

“When the sofa arrived, he came running in and sniffed it from top to bottom; he has now claimed it as his own,” she said. “I’m still helping to get the place sorted for my friends and every time I’m there I make myself a cup of tea, sit down on the sofa and smile.”

Andrew Collins, manager at St Luke’s Western Approach store in the old ToysRUs building, said using St Luke’s is a great way to save money and help the charity.

“Why buy new when you can buy a quality used piece from us? It’s much more affordable and it’s also helps support the care of St Luke’s patients and their families,” he said. “We always need items to sell to generate income for St Luke’s. All we ask is that they are ‘saleable’, so in reasonable condition, and not broken and without any bits missing. And we’re not able to take sofas unless they have got their fire safety regulation labels.”

St Luke’s stores that stock large items of furniture, including sofas and beds are Western Approach (ToysRUs), Plympton furniture warehouse, Sugar Mill at Plymstock and Launceston. If you are after smaller items, you can also try the Transit Way store. For full store details and opening times click here.

If you have furniture you’d like to donate, St Luke’s runs a free collection service and there’s a special number to call – 01752 964455 – that’s manned all year round, except bank holidays.

CEO Steve Statham retirement
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BLOG: CEO Steve Statham discusses his retirement and St Luke’s

CEO Steve Statham retirement

CEO Steve Statham discusses his retirement and St Luke’s

Chief Executive of St Luke’s, Steve Statham, has announced he will be retiring in April 2023 after six years’ service in the role and 18 years with our charity.

Here he discusses his retirement and time at St Luke’s and how he will be leaving the charity in very capable hands.

There is never a ‘perfect’ time to leave a job and organisation you hold very dear, but both personally and professionally it feels like the right time for me to hand over the reins to a successor who will bring with them their own ideas and leadership style.

The decision to retire next year has not been an easy one – not only because I’m incredibly proud of the service that together we have grown, shaped and honed so that it’s the very best it can be for our patients and their families, but because the St Luke’s team are the best of the best.

If you’ll bear with me, I’m going to repeat a story that I’ve told at many a Welcome Day over the years, and it goes back to when I first set foot inside Turnchapel for my interview as HR Director 18 years ago. If I’m completely honest, it was more about getting interview practice than securing the job itself. After all, I told myself, wouldn’t a hospice be rather a depressing place to work? Of course, I was wrong – something that didn’t take long to dawn on me. And, by the time my interview was over, I really wanted the job!

St Luke’s empathy, compassion and positivity was absolutely palpable that day at Turnchapel, just as it always is there or wherever you come into contact with our staff and volunteers. It’s what inspired me to take the job and progress to the role of Chief Executive (via a few years in the Deputy position), and though it’s hard to describe the special atmosphere to people who’ve never experienced it, it’s what I still feel every single day when I come to work.

Being CEO is not a nine-to-five job, far from it, and that’s exactly what you’d expect. Even when I’m out and about in the evenings and at weekends, there are always people wanting to talk to me about St Luke’s and share their personal stories of the difference our team made to them in the midst of a very tough time. In that sense, as CEO you are always ‘on’, but this has never felt like a burden to me. The attention and feedback from our community is simply testament to how much our staff and volunteers do for these families, always exceeding expectations and leaving them with memories that still bring them comfort, even many years on.

Reflecting on my time at St Luke’s and what I feel proudest of – alongside my colleagues – is the way our organisation has continuously innovated to keep pace with the changing needs of our patients, who always come first. There have been times when we’ve had to make difficult decisions, but it’s this agility and patient-centred approach that has helped us adapt and thrive, maintaining the trust of our community and meeting them at their point of need, wherever they happen to be.

I am also proud of the partnerships we have built and strengthened along the way, including with University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Marie Curie and Livewell South West, that are so critical to the delivery of seamless care for patients.

While none of us will forget the pandemic in a hurry, so relentless did it feel for us all, what it did for St Luke’s is shine a light on our specialist knowledge and skills in end of life care and bereavement support, which were in demand more than ever before. The way our teams reacted swiftly to help ease the load on our health and social care partners, dealing with huge challenges with such good grace, has been noted throughout our local networks, increasing awareness of, and respect for, what we do.

Even more so than before, they will look to us for their education needs, recognising how valuable our expertise is to them. This is especially heartening given St Lukes’s continued investment in our Education team and its provision for health and social care providers, from GPs to care home staff.

In closing, I want to reassure you that during the next six months before my retirement starts, I will be committed to leading St Luke’s diligently.

I will be leaving our hospice in good shape and in very capable hands. Though it will be very hard to say goodbye in April, it is my trust in our team that gives me complete peace of mind as I plan the next phase of my life.

Travelling…cycling…yes, there’ll be more time to enjoy those, but apart from that I’m remaining open to what retirement may bring. What is certain is that I will take with me huge pride, respect and appreciation for all my colleagues right across St Luke’s our unwavering supporters and fantastic memories of an exceptionally special time.

Best wishes

Steve

Chief Executive

laughter in a hospice
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BLOG: “I did not expect to hear laughter in a hospice.”

laughter in a hospice

“I did not expect to hear laughter in a hospice.”

“I did not expect to hear laughter in a hospice. The atmosphere is uplifting – I knew right away I was volunteering with an organisation that was just right for me.”

When Eleanor first joined us after relocating from South Africa to Plymouth, it was as part of our friendly reception team at Turnchapel. Being at our specialist unit, where we look after our most vulnerable patients and welcome their family and friends, gave her valuable insight into our compassionate care. So, every Monday when she volunteers in her new role at our Shabby Chic charity shop on the Barbican, she feels really inspired, knowing the vital difference our retail income makes for patients and their loved ones.

Eleanor, who lives in Oreston, said: “Being welcomed into the wonderful St Luke’s ‘family’ has helped me feel more at home in a city completely new to me. Best of all is the feeling I get meeting customers and knowing every vintage piece the shop sells supports such a vital service for local families.”

Like kind-hearted Eleanor, could you spare a few hours a week to volunteer at our Shabby Chic charity shop? Located in bustling Southside Street on the Barbican, it’s a treasure trove of quality items full of retro charm.

Learn more about our volunteering opportunities.

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