Charlotte Winder

Saint Francis Hospice is an independent charity and one of the largest adult hospices in the UK. Our team of specialist consultants, doctors, nurses and a range of other health and social care professionals provide care and support to the individuals, their carers and family members, completely free of charge. We serve the populations of Havering, Brentwood, Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge and West Essex. This year, we need to raise £7.8 million in voluntary income, so every donation from individuals and organisations is important to us. We also have a team of over 650 skilled and committed volunteers who help us keep our costs down and add huge value to the work we do. Our approach is holistic - looking after the whole individual, so as well as their physical symptoms we consider their psychological and spiritual needs, too. Around 85% of our work happens in the community - i.e. in the homes of those we look after, in care homes or hospitals. Our services include our inpatient unit, day therapy centre, hospice at home for those at the end of life, physiotherapy, complementary therapy, bereavement support, counselling, children's bereavement support and help for carers. As a charity, 27% of our funding is from the NHS, so we rely heavily on the support of our local community to maintain and grow our services.