This October, Charl & I are taking on a challenge close to our hearts – walking 60 miles to help raise funds for a brand new room to support palliative care patients and their families at New Cross Hospital.

The palliative care team do incredible work, providing not only medical support, but also comfort, kindness, and compassion to patients and their loved ones. For us, their involvement and support was truly invaluable. 💜

We want to support them by helping fund a welcoming space where families can access a calming, peaceful and private environment.

Our plan is to walk 2 miles a day throughout October (or in my case, maybe a little hobbling along the way! 😅) whatever the weather 🌦️.

We’ll be sharing regular updates on our journey and hope you’ll cheer us on. With your support, we can make a small contribution towards making a big difference. 💜

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Please see the description of the full appeal below:

”Supported by Your RWTC, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s charity, the Specialist Palliative Care Team is hoping businesses and fundraisers will support its bid to offer a dedicated space for the loved ones of patients receiving care in the last days of life at New Cross Hospital.

The Specialist Palliative Care Team offers individualised support to patients who are facing life-limiting illness, including those who are recognised to be in their last days of life. This encompasses managing any troublesome physical symptoms, such as pain and sickness, emotional support and SWAN care in the last days of life. The SWAN model of care is used throughout the hospital as a multi-disciplinary team approach to end of life and bereavement care. It stands for Signs, Words, Actions and Needs.

The team support patients and their loved ones by providing individualised, personalised care to patients and works in collaboration with SWAN champions, a dedicated group of staff, passionate about achieving high quality, end of life and bereavement care across the organisation.

Dr Hannah Jennens, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, explained a dedicated SWAN relatives' room could be housed on C13.

She said: “The proposed space is currently occupied by three storage rooms which could be converted into a single, private space for the loved ones of those patient’s receiving SWAN care in the last days of life in hospital.

“This improvement will enhance the experience at a difficult time. The space would provide a calm and peaceful space for loved ones to take a break from the busy ward environment.”

“End-of-life care needs to be centred around dignity and compassion, and this room is a much-needed addition to the hospital but we need to raise funds to cover the cost of building work and the homely touches needed to make it a comfortable space.”

Amanda Winwood, Charity Development Manager, said: “Our teams work so hard to deliver high-quality end-of-life care – an important aspect of which is the support given to loved ones at such a distressing time.

“We know we have generous companies in the area, many of whom will have used our healthcare services, and hope they will support our bid to provide this dignified and comfortable space away from busy areas of the hospital.

“We will look at fundraising events to help boost the appeal and our SWAN Champions are also going to be doing their bit to get us to our target. They are fundraising for memory boxes too for relatives to have as keepsakes.”