Shropshire hospitals' Swan Fund celebrates 10th birthday
A hospital charity fund to support dying patients and their loved ones in their final days has marked a milestone anniversary.
The Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust's (SaTH) charity’s Swan Fund has turned 10 years old, having raised more than £100,000 since it was set up.
The fund was created in 2015 with a £500 donation collected at the funeral of Jules Lewis’ father Harold who died at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), which is managed by SaTH.
The money raised is used to support last hours and days care for patients and their loved ones.
To celebrate the fund’s birthday, the team invited the volunteers and knitters to a thank you café at Shropshire Education & Conference Centre to thank them for their ongoing support.
Jules Lewis, end of life care (EOLC) facilitator/lead nurse at SaTH, said: “It is so lovely that we have turned the date of my lovely dad’s death into the Swan Fund Anniversary, a joyful and hopeful thank you café to celebrate the dedication of volunteers and knitters to our ‘one chance’ work, dad would have loved that.
“The day was such a heartwarming morning celebrating our volunteers and knitters.”
Julia Clarke, director of public participation at SaTH, said: “We are so grateful to the people who donate to the Swan Fund and our wonderful volunteers and the knitters who donated knitted kindness hearts.
“We would also like to thank our staff for their commitment to provide the best possible care to their patients and their loved ones.
"The Swan Fund is used to provide extras that are not provided within the national contract like skylights in the Swan Rooms, reclining chairs for relatives to sleep on, mood lights, they also provide Swan folders and Swan bereavement bags to loved ones that include vital information.
“Everyone involved is supporting those who are going through the hardest moment of their lives.”
At the celebration, Jules thanked a number of people including Linda Parker, ward clerk on Ward 32 and Swan EOLC volunteer/champion; Jules Lock, lead Swan EOLC volunteer and all those who bought a raffle ticket for the event.
The winner of the first prize, which was a painting by Roy Lilley, health writer/commentator and artist, was Jackie Payne.
