St Luke's Hospice Plymouth

A big thank you to Saltash Youth U16s for their amazing support. We are proud to be featured on their kit as one of three charities that the club are supporting. St Luke's has always held a special place in coach Sam Green's heart as we were able to care for his grandad when he was terminally ill. Thank you to Sam and all the players for thinking of St Luke's!

In our charity shops, second-hand doesn’t mean second rate. If you’re looking for good-quality, stylish bargains for your winter wardrobe, it’s well worth a visit! Coats, jumpers, scarves, boots and more from lots of the labels you know and love, but at purse-friendly prices. Shopping in a way that supports high-quality hospice care in your community is always in fashion! Find your nearest shop https://bit.ly/2I7ClvY

The story of how eight bereaved people meet at a neighbourhood Compassionate Café in Plymouth and team up for a summer coach holiday to Eastbourne sounds like the plot for a classic feelgood movie. But this heartwarming tale is absolutely true and positively inspiring, demonstrating the impact of communities pulling together with a little help from St Luke’s Compassionate Friends initiative. Read all about Ken’s 'silly idea' and how it made a difference to Kay, Penny, Tony, Jeanette, Alison, Heather and Jenny on our blog: https://lnkd.in/eUvpDYHQ

Do you know of any children whose loved ones currently are or have previously received care and support from St Luke’s? We would love to invite them to a special children’s Christmas party. The party is on Sunday 17 November and has kindly been funded and organised by Children's Wishes Plymouth. It will take place at China Fleet in Saltash from 11am to 2pm. There will be four zones, a teenage zone, a toddler zone, an arts and crafts zone and Santa’s grotto and hot chocolate station. If you have any questions you can speak to your St Luke’s contact or send us an email letting us know you can make it to events@stlukes-hospice.org.uk . Please RSVP by Friday 1 November at the latest. We look forward to seeing you there. 🎁 🎄 🎅

The clocks going back in the early hours of tomorrow morning will give many of us a welcome extra hour in bed. Unfortunately, our patients and their families can’t turn back the clock, and every minute that ticks by is precious. That’s why it’s so important that our nursing teams can dedicate the time it takes to give them the very best care and support, when and where they need it. It’s the generosity of our supporters, donors and volunteers that makes this possible, so we’d like to take a second to offer you a heartfelt thank you from us all at St Luke’s. We couldn’t do it without you! If you would like to help support our nurses, you can sponsor a St Luke's nurse. Even the smallest amount can make the biggest difference: https://bit.ly/2WAdkgD

Test your general knowledge skills with a fun filled quiz night in aid of St Luke’s! Local accountancy firm, Bishop Fleming Chartered Accountants are hosting a charity quiz night on Thursday 14 November all in aid of St Luke’s. The evening will be held at Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park. Timings will be as follows: 6pm arrival, 6.15pm welcome, 6.30pm food served, 7pm quiz starts, 9pm close. It is set to be the perfect team building evening, all while raising vital funds for our compassionate care. To find out more and register your team visit https://bit.ly/3YxYTfw

Celebrate Oxo with a slice of cake this weekend. Emma Oxland, the owner of newly opened café The Bees Knees gluten free is fundraising for St Luke’s this weekend in memory of her father who died last March. Michael Oxland or ‘Oxo’ as he was known to many, was cared for St Luke’s and as a way of celebrating his memory and thanking St Luke’s, Emma will be serving up her dad’s favourite cake, Victoria Sponge for donations to St Luke’s. Emma said: “My dad passed away last March and was cared for in his last days by the St Luke’s team, and they were just amazing. It would have been my dad’s 76th birthday this Friday, and I thought it very apt to celebrate by giving back to the people that helped my dad, and also helped my family get through such a traumatising time. “I can never thank you enough, but this is all I can think of as a tribute to both St Luke’s, and my dad.” Emma will be donating 20% of all café takings this Friday and Saturday to St Luke’s, so that other families like hers can be supported. The Bees Knees gluten free is on Hyde Park Road and will be open from 8.30am to 3.30pm on both days. Make sure to pop along to help celebrate Oxo’s birthday and enjoy a slice of cake!

Have you thought about the future? Making your will is one of the kindest things you can do for the people you love. If you haven’t yet created your will, or if you have but recognise it’s in need of updating – perhaps because you’ve got married or divorced, or you’ve bought a house, had children or become a grandparent – our Make a Will Week (4-10 November) is the ideal opportunity to do so while also showing your compassion for people in your community whose time is running short. Having a will helps bring you peace of mind, knowing that when you die your wishes will be carried out. It is especially important if you have children or other family who depend on you financially, or if you want to leave something to people outside your immediate family. Write your will for free with Farewill either online or over the phone. You can show your support for St Luke’s by making a donation or by leaving a lasting gift in your will. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/erUUg_Sx

Care for us goes beyond the walls of our patient’s homes and our specialist unit. We believe in sharing our skillset and expertise with our local community to ensure that everyone has access to compassionate care at the end of their life. Our Six Steps+ end of life care programme is a series of workshops developed by our education team for care homes and agencies. The programme is designed as a toolkit for providing end of life care to support them to meet best practice and CQC end of life essential standards. We have places available on our next Six Steps+ programme which is due to start on 19 November. To find out more and apply visit https://bit.ly/2QixLw5 The closing date for applications is Tuesday 29 October.

"Opening the door to Alice that day was like an angel had come to help us. I will be forever grateful. Without St Luke's and of course Alice things would have been so difficult." Our nurses will be at your door when you need us, providing advice, support, care and comfort, not just to our patients but to their loved ones too. Working in partnership with other healthcare professionals means we can provide the best possible care and support. To learn more about our care at home visit https://bit.ly/2OJ6ceX