Each month the church stages a coffee morning in aid of
the Mary Ann Evans Hospice in Nuneaton. This is a day hospice providing
essential care for a large number of local people. It's costs are high and the
church raises in the region of £2,500 each year simply by offering coffee, cake
and the warm inviting atmosphere of the Small Church Hall. The dedicated team
of volunteers provide the cakes and many of the raffle prizes and the
coffee mornings are attended by a large number of people from the local
community.
The
Mary Ann Evans Hospice
The
Mary Ann Evans Hospice was built in 1990 as a result of the combined
appeals from the Mayors of Nuneaton and Bedworth - Bill Olner, and North
Warwickshire - Peggy Hall, in their mayoral year 1998/9. The Hospice was
officially opened by the Princess Royal on 14 January 1991.
Starting
as a day hospice only, the service was extended to give home care to
patients who would otherwise have to take up residential care in other
hospices at a considerable distance from their families. This “Hospice
at Home” service has expanded to cover all of North Warwickshire and is
run as a complimentary service to the day hospice facility. The whole
service is co-ordinated by the Senior Nurse Manager, Maggi Cole, who is
employed by the North Warwickshire PCT.
The
Trust is contracted by the Hospice Board to provide the care staff and all
other requirements of the integrated service. These services work closely
with GPs, Macmillan Nurses, District Nurses and the Marie Curie Nursing
Service.
The
need to extend and re-furbish the Hospice to give better facilities to the
patients and accommodate the extra care and charity staff soon became
apparent and an appeal was launched in May 1996 to raise £500,000 to
achieve this goal. This figure was revised to £450,000 after architects
were appointed and building started on 6 June 1998. Full occupation took
place on 12 April 1999. The Duke of Gloucester officially opened the
extension on 13 May 1999.
The
complete service costs around £650,000 per year to run with £165,000
funding from North Warwickshire PCT and £155,000 from our three hospice
shops. This leaves £330,000 to be raised from the local community to
maintain the service as it is at present. The day hospice care extended
from 4 days to 5 days each week from 1 January 2001 and someone is always
available for anyone who may “drop in” for counselling and advice.
All
care is provided free of charge to patients and the service is supported
by the help of over 100 volunteers without whom the Hospice could not
function.
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