I would like to wish everyone in our community a very a Happy New Year and extend a thank you across the county for all who those have kindly supported St Margaret’s Hospice throughout 2021.
It’s been a challenging year for the hospice with the impact of Covid-19 continuing to be felt across the country, but we have been overwhelmed by the generosity and support we’ve received.
Our hospice teams have worked tirelessly on the frontline to support patients and their families through difficult times this year, so it has been business as usual at St Margaret’s whilst coping with the pandemic on top! Our clinical teams both on our In-patient Unit and in the community have continued to work collaboratively with other healthcare professionals, wearing PPE to safeguard patients and their families throughout. Both our main sites have offered day hospice provision, lymphoedema services, Physiotherapy and breathlessness teams, family support and bereavement staff have supported thousands of families.
We have continued to deliver quality, compassionate care and support to patients and their families and have helped them to have precious time together whilst keeping them safe as possible. In addition, we have worked closely with colleagues at our Yeovil hub who have been able to offer Oncology and Haematology treatments and support too.
This year we have also been able to enjoy some face-to-face fundraising after months away which was truly amazing! Being able to host our fundraising events including our Taunton and Yeovil Summer Fetes, Great Somerset Cycle Ride, Colour Run, Your Way event, Christmas Fayre and more has been so special and such a joy to welcome participants in person.
We were delighted to reopen our charity shops after lockdown restrictions were lifted and see loyal customers and our incredible volunteers again. We were so grateful for the wonderful donations of quality, pre-loved goods that many people across the community saved for us and donated once the shops reopened, they really helped to keep us going! We also thank our amazing volunteers who continued to support us through lockdown and immediately jumped into action when our shops reopened, we couldn’t have done it without you!
House in Teignmouth. Photo by Chris Russell
All of this wonderful community support has helped us to weather the storm of Covid-19 for another year and enabled us to continue to care for over 5,000 patients in Somerset.
As we look ahead to 2022 and our 42nd anniversary, we know that there will be another challenging year ahead, but that more people with life-limiting illnesses across the county will need compassionate end-of-life care and we are determined to be there for them and their families when they need us.
However, to enable us to do this we are very reliant on the generosity of our local community. We have lots of fun events coming up in 2022 including our Firewalk on Saturday, February 19 and our Glorious Gardens events will open in the Summer. I look forward to welcoming you.
Finally, I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us through what has been a really difficult few years for the hospice, we are so grateful for your continued support, and we wish you all a Happy New Year!