County hospice featured in national TV campaign
The power and scope of hospice care – and the vital role of gifts in wills to support it – is being underlined in a national TV advertising campaign featuring Severn Hospice.
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Gifts in wills provide care for one in four patients at Severn Hospice, which faces another £500,000 increase in its running costs this coming year, on top of a £1.1 million rise in 2024, and £1.4 million the year before that.
The national campaign, which includes more than 140 other hospices, highlights the unique and specialist care they provide, all for free but completely reliant on donations.
Tracie Harrison, a Severn Hospice Director, said: “We give families time to be families again, we’re giving them back precious moments in the most heartbreaking of circumstances. We are proud to do it, but we can’t do it without the community by our side.”
Severn Hospice has to raise £2 for every £3 it spends and its caring services cover patients’ clinical, psychological, spiritual and social needs.
“Anyone who has been touched by the hospice knows how much we can do for them and their loved one and they are often amazed at the scope and breadth of our care, all provided for free,” said Tracie.
“There are so many examples of how our care goes beyond the clinical and which just wouldn’t be possible if we weren’t there at that point in our patients’ lives,” she said.
“We’ve had one of our consultants literally dancing down the corridor with a patient as it was something they said they wanted to feel one more time. We’ve had people’s pets on the ward, singing and music sessions, even motorbikes in our rooms. These are joyful experiences which couldn’t happen anywhere else,” said Tracie.
Beyond clinical care and specialist palliative nursing support, Severn Hospice patients benefit from art and creative therapies, gardening therapy and walking groups. There is bereavement support, including special sessions for children, complementary therapy, physiotherapy and specialist clinics.
“The campaign is highlighting all that is hospice care and we are proud to be part of spreading such an important message,” said Tracie.
To watch the national campaign TV advert, visit: www.severnhospicegiftsinwills.co.uk
