Cuddle-beds

The warm embrace of a loved one is always comforting. The solace of a cuddle is especially important for those in the final hours or days of their lives.

Thanks to a brand-new ‘cuddle-bed’ patients at St Mary’s Hospice have the opportunity to experience such an embrace.

The bed boasts all the clinically vital features of a hospital-style bed, but with the added bonus of being extendable, meaning loved ones can climb in and offer some comfort to patients.

It has been paid for by a grant of £15,000 from Lakeland Disability Support, whose representatives Grace Bonson and David Eastwood, visited the hospice, to see it in action.

Lakeland Disability Support is a local charity, which provides one-off grants for equipment, facilities and services to assist people with disabilities across the Lake District.

David said: “We were approached by St Mary’s late last year, and they made an application to help with the cost of a cuddle-bed. We were really pleased to be able to support them by covering the cost of the bed.

“We were given a tour of the hospice and we’re fortunate to be able to speak to a patient and their family who were using the bed. They told us first-hand how useful it has been for them. It is always rather special to see our grants in use.”

Having been installed just a couple of months ago, the cuddle-bed has already inspired the friends of a patient to raise funds for a second one.

Friends of Sue Wymer, who died at St Mary’s in March, want to help the hospice buy a second cuddle-bed, having seen how much solace Sue found in using it during her final days.

Sue, who had pancreatic cancer, was a much-loved member of the local education community. She’d worked as a headteacher in the south of England and after moving to Cumbria she provided collective worship for local schools and led church services in Allithwaite.

Sue, who had pancreatic cancer, was a much-loved member of the local education community. She’d worked as a headteacher in the south of England and after moving to Cumbria she provided collective worship for local schools and led church services in Allithwaite.

Her good friends Nicole Spibey and Rachel Stavert were able to see first-hand how useful the cuddle-bed was during Sue’s final days. Rachel said: “The bed was amazing and Sue was so grateful to be able to use it. We wanted to give something back to the Hospice to say thank you for the care Sue received, and raising the money to buy a second cuddle-bed seems so appropriate. Sue spent her entire stay in the cuddle-bed, and we think it would be great if more people had the opportunity to do that.”

Nicole and Rachel have set up a just-giving page, and are fundraising across the schools where Sue was known. Pupils from Allithwaite School (where Nicole is a teacher) and others from Flookburgh and Grange-Over-Sands school are all taking part in a fun-run, timed to coincide with the London Marathon.

Nicole said: “We’ll have over 400 pupils taking part. It’s really fitting that they’ll be coming together and working with each other to raise money in Sue’s memory. She had a really strong sense of community and would approve.”

If you want to contribute to the collection for the second cuddle-bed you can visit: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/suescuddlebed