St Michael’s Hospice

Situated in rural Herefordshire, the Hospice serves the local community and surrounding five counties. Since the first patient was admitted on 31 October 1984, more than 20,000 people and their families have benefitted from the care the Hospice  offers.

St Michael’s Hospice is an independent charity and all their services are given free. It costs over £10,000 per day to provide these services and they rely on around 90% of their funding from the community.

Contact

Call: 01432 851000
St. Michael’s Hospice,
Bartestree, Hereford,
HR1 4HA

Web:
www.st-michaels-hospice.org.uk

Email:
info@st-michaels-hospice.org.uk

Registered Charity No. 511179

A blossoming friendship

The Journey Garden

Hannah Genders has just won a Silver-Gilt medal for ‘The Journey Garden’ – a wonderful new outdoor space for St Michael’s Hospice – at the RHS Spring Garden Show. In partnership with the Hospice, Hellens Garden Festival is delighted to be supporting Hannah.

Since the opening of a new Inpatient Unit in March 2015, St Michael’s Hospice has been able to care for more patients and their families living with a terminal illness. The state-of-the-art new building provides patients with spacious private rooms with en-suite facilities and allows people to visit their loved-ones in a light and airy environment.

Built to the highest engineering standards, every aspect of the highly insulated, timber-framed building has been considered to ensure St Michael’s can continue to meet the needs of the local community for generations to come.

Debbie Emmett, Health Care Assistant at St Michael’s Hospice, said, ‘When I began working at St Michael’s 15 years ago, the Hospice was much quieter. Today there is a much greater need for all our services, and we are caring for more people in many different ways. Patients can now visit us for symptom control and then return home, and many more patients will soon be able to use our Inreach services, enabling people to live in their own homes for as long as possible.’

One of the key design features of the new building is private bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. Debbie believes this feature is vital to help care for people with the dignity they deserve. ‘I can’t emphasise enough the difference the extra space and facilities will make to the quality of people’s lives during their stay at the Hospice.’

The bespoke building has been designed to engage the senses and provides a truly astonishing therapeutic environment.  Architect Paul Neep said, ‘St Michael’s Hospice has touched the lives of so many people in Herefordshire; it has been a privilege to help create this beautiful new facility that will enable the Hospice to provide a quiet, comfortable and relaxing environment while avoiding clinical uniformity.’

Just as much thought has been given to the external environment. Landscape architects have created streams for rainwater to run through and rills to act as therapeutic water features, offering sound and visual animation to help soothe and calm. Carefully planted flowers, shrubs and hedgerows help to link the building to its location in the stunning Herefordshire countryside.

The second stage of the redevelopment project, the refurbishment of the existing building is now also nearing completion, and will give Herefordshire a Hospice fit for the 21st century.

In order to amass the £5.2 million pounds it costs every year to run this amazing facility, our award-winning Retail Team and their 17 Hospice Shops and Home & Living Stores throughout Herefordshire and neighbouring counties have worked tirelessly to help us meet our bills. We rely on over 800 volunteers to help us run more efficiently and within budget, and alongside our communities who support and organise fundraisers, have helped fundraise  £4.2million in 2015, ensuring this specialist palliative care Hospice service is available for all the communities who need it.

St Michael’s mission for the future is to continue to revolutionise palliative care and support more local families with a broadened range of services, thus meeting the community’s growing needs.

To find out more about St Michael’s Hospice visit:
st-michaels-hospice.org.uk

Because of you, St Michael’s Hospice is able to offer quality care to people with terminal illnesses and their families, friends and carers at a time when they need it most.