The Hospice UK Awards – supported by The National Garden Scheme – and now in their ninth year, seek to recognise the huge contribution that both inspiring individuals and innovative programmes have made to hospice and end of life care in local communities across the UK. St Mary’s Hospice has been awarded the Innovation in Partnership Working Award: for the St Mary’s Living Well Centre in Barrow-in-Furness.
Val Stangoe, Chief Executive shared the project’s aims and results and benefits for our community, supporting the local project to win a national award: One of the key aims aims of St Mary’s Hospice’s strategic plan is to increase the number of people it supports and to reach them earlier. Last year it estimated that 150 people a year in Barrow in Furness were missing out on its care. The hospice sought to reach out to more people through its new Living Well Centre in Barrow, which aimed to develop a supportive community for people living with advancing illness or dealing with bereavement. It contacted a range of partner organisations, which supported people with neurological conditions, bereavement and stroke, to help expand the hospice’s reach.
By June they had eleven partners and had developed new activities such as a multi-agency Dementia Hub and are also planning a joint Christmas concert. As a result of the partnership the hospice is currently reaching 250 people and anticipates this will increase to 300 by the end of this year.
What the judges said: “The panel were excited to hear about the ways in which the Living Well Centre is connecting with other local groups that support people’s wellbeing, providing a ‘one-stop shop’ for the local community. It was also great to hear about the plans to reach out to excluded communities too.”
Val Stangoe, St Mary’s Chief Executive: “‘We’re proud to accept this Innovation in Partnership Working Award on behalf of all of those working in the St Mary’s Living Well Centre. Good palliative care has to override organisational boundaries to create truly seamless support. We’re grateful to all of those who have joined with us to work better together to use our community’s strengths to meet its needs. This first year has proved successful but our ambitions for the partnership continue to grow.”
Sarah Simpson, Marketing Manager: “This a fantastic boost for our Living Well Centre. The project had to be presented at the conference, and we worked with expert local designers and printers Fingerprints based in Barrow, to create a set of posters and leaflets to share St Mary’s work. The quality of work showcases our hospice on a national level and hopefully enables more people to be reached by inspiring future projects. I am so proud that we were waving the flag for our hospice, colleagues, community and Cumbrian talent at the conference.”
Picture courtesy of Hospice UK and Jonathan Goldberg