Hospice Appeal
“They were angels. Not just for Les, but for me and the boys. They made Les so comfortable at the end of his life. They were so caring and would always come straight back to the house if we needed help after they’d gone.”
For Tracey Dale and her family, the St Teresa’s Hospice Rapid Response nurses were a lifeline during the most difficult of times.
Every 90 seconds, someone is diagnosed with cancer in the UK, and this creates a high demand for end-of-life care. At St Teresa’s Hospice, our mission is to support people with cancer or any other terminal illness by helping them to live as well as possible, for as long as possible.
We give patients and their carers the comfort and dignity they deserve in a safe, relaxed and friendly environment; for some this means being cared for at the Hospice in our Inpatient Unit, for others this means being cared for at home.
Les, Tracey’s husband for 42 years, chose to receive care at home throughout his treatment for mesothelioma. His wish was for Tracey to look after him, which she did for more than two years. Eventually, as his illness progressed, additional care and support was needed and Les was referred to our Rapid Response team. Our Community Hospice teams enable people to remain at home while having access to care and support 24/7 from Community Healthcare Assistants, Nurses, and volunteers.
We cared for Les at home for five days until his death in December 2019, with Tracey by his side.
“Les passed away peacefully and the nurses came straight over. No one could have made it better. They were angels.”
Working alongside other health and social care services, we offer free confidential specialist social work support and counselling. This is for not only the person diagnosed with the illness but also for the family (including children and young people) and those who care for them.
Tracey received counselling whilst caring for Les, allowing her to open up at the end of each week and learning different techniques to cope with a wide range of emotions. Bereavement counselling continued for a year after Les died.
“When Les passed away I was in a black hole. When the bereavement counsellors come along and explain things, you know it’s normal. You’re then not stressing and panicking about the feelings you’re having. I can open up to them.”
Almost all of our care and support is provided free of charge for patients and carers, but with rising costs it is becoming harder to sustain these services.
The average daily running cost is now £9,358.
Although we receive some of our funding from the NHS, we will always be grateful for the enduring and generous support of our communities.
Please help us by donating below so that we can continue offering high quality, holistic hospice care that makes a tremendous difference to individuals and whole families during some of the most difficult and traumatic times imaginable.
Thank you so much for your continued support, on behalf of everyone at St Teresa’s Hospice.
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For any further information, please contact our Fundraising Team on 01325 254321 or email hello@darlingtonhospice.org.uk.
