We all love a cuddle. They’ve been shown to ease anxiety, release feel-good hormones, support pain relief and promote better sleep – but when your loved one is seriously ill a cuddle can mean even more. 

When someone comes to stay on one of Pilgrims Hospices wards, we want them to feel at home. We understand how difficult that change can be, and that it’s often the little things that matter most. Like facing the thought that you can no longer lie in bed next to your loved one as you would do at home. 

Take Tony, whose wife Gill was cared for on a Pilgrims ward just this month. Tony was so grateful for the compassionate care that Gill received, but he had one wish. “It would have meant the world if I could have lain next to Gill on the same bed, to give her a cuddle just like I would at home.” 

We put the people using our services at the centre of all we do. Tony’s story has shown us how important it is for us to offer people using our wards a bed that’s big enough for two people to lie side by side. That is why we have searched out the perfect side by side Cuddle Beds and why we are launching our Give a Cuddle appeal. We want to make sure people on our wards have the choice of an extra wide Cuddle Bed so they can lie next to their loved ones; whether that’s husbands, wives, partners, children, grandchildren, grandparents or friends. 

Each of these wonderful beds costs £10,500. To make a Cuddle Bed available at each of our three hospices we would need to raise £31,500 to make this dream a reality. If 1,000 of our supporters were to donate £31.50 each it would be enough to provide a Cuddle Bed at each of our hospices. 

So give the gift of a cuddle and together we can make a real difference to the people who urgently need our care, their families and friends.