Praise for new hospice at home
FESTIVE NEWS • DECEMBER 2017 • PAGE 21
One person who knows the importance of the Hospice at Home
service is Lynsey Griffiths.
Lynsey met Codie in 2011 when they were both placed on
the singles table at a wedding.
The following March, with wedding plans in mind, Lynsey
accompanied Codie to a routine hospital appointment about his
recent diagnosis of a benign brain tumour.
‘I was confused when stage four brain cancer was
mentioned,’ she said.
‘The doctor said chemo and radiotherapy would help, but
neither would be able to keep Codie’s cancer from coming
back.
‘A Macmillan nurse put me in touch with a counsellor at St
Michael’s Hospice. For the first time, I could talk to someone
about the things I couldn’t talk to Codie about.’
Later that year, Codie’s work colleagues raised enough
money to pay for the couple’s wedding.
In June 2016, Codie’s symptoms started to increase. A stroke
blurred his words and his final chemo made him very ill. The
last hope was an operation that would remove tissue from
deeper inside Codie’s brain. The operation only had a 50/50
chance of success and left him with little control of the left-
hand side of his body.
‘I was crying all the time,’ said Lynsey. ‘The only person I
could talk to was my counsellor; she helped me through awful
times.
‘The Hospice at Home nurses started to visit three times a
day. It meant I had time to quietly sit and know Codie had the
care he needed. They were my lifeline, and Codie loved them
all.
‘Codie wanted to be at home, and because his nurses stayed
with us for his last few nights, he was able to die in the place
he wanted. I can never thank them enough for all they did.
‘Thanks to St Michael’s, I don’t feel quite so sad any more.’
COFFEE CREATES CASH
B e l m o n t C o m m u n i t y C e n t r e r u n b y V o l u n t e e r s
H e r e f o r d C o m m u n i t y C h a m p i o n s 2 0 1 6
E v e n t s o n o f f e r a t t h e c e n t r e a r e :
S l i m m i n g W o r l d ( M o n ) , K a r a t e ( M o n ) , M u m s a n d T o t s ( T u e ) ,
C r a f t C l u b ( T u e ) R a i n b o w s ( T u e ) , B i n g o ( 2 n d T u e ) , L u n c h
C l u b ( 2 n d & L a s t W e d ) G u i d e s ( W e d ) , S t a y a n d P l a y ( T h u )
T h e C a c o p h o n y C h o i r ( T h u ) C h u r c h a t B e l m o n t ( T h u r s &
S u n ) , C o m m u n i t y C a f e ( F r i ) , a n d S h a o l i n Q i S h i K u n g F u
( F r i ) , I n c l u d i n g B e l m o n t L i b r a r y ( T u e – S a t )
T o c o n t a c t t h e c e n t r e
R o m s a v a i l a b l e t o h i r e f o r P a r t i e s a n d E v e nt
P h o n e 0 1 4 3 2 2 6 3 4 1 5
E m a i l : b e l m o n t c e n t r e b e l m o n t @ y a h o o . c o m
The loss of two friends who died earlier this year prompted Kath Jones and
her granddaughter Kizzy Knight to organise a coffee morning at Holmer
church centre to raise a few pounds for St Michael’s Hospice in memory of
the friends, Barbara Slater and Gwenda Thomas .
Little did they know the extent to which family and friends would rally
round filling stalls with everything from bottles to cakes, books to jewellery.
And the end result was £1670, which Ruth Dennison, fund raising manager
at the hospice believes could well be a record for a donation from a coffee
morning.
Said Kath: “We were overwhelmed by the response, especially from Holy
Ruth Dennison (left) receives the bumper cheque
Trinity church where Barbara was a church warden and Holmer Church from Kath Jones and her granddaughter Kizzy on a
where Gwenda was a member for almost 40 years.”
visit to the hospice.
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