In the year ahead, we are delighted to be continuing our support for the Royal Trinity Hospice as a ‘Local Business Hero’. Here we give you an insight in to the UK’s oldest hospice, the central role it plays in the local community, and why we love to support this wonderful organisation.
Royal Trinity Hospice provides specialist palliative and end of life care in central and south west London. It was founded in 1891 by Colonel William Hoare, who identified the need for a home ‘for the man who is neither curable nor incurable but simply dying’ and launched an appeal in The Times to raise the funds needed to set this up.
Today, Trinity continues to play a central role in the local community, providing outstanding, compassionate care to patients and their families. Living locally to Trinity, this was something we saw first hand, and it was this that inspired us to choose Royal Trinity Hospice as one of the first charities to champion and support when we created whiteballoon.
Trinity is a beautiful house set in tranquil, uplifting gardens. When you walk in to their reception, there is a feeling of warmth and calm and there is always a friendly welcome. The gardens are very much a haven, a place of peace, reflection and restoration. Patients’ beds can be taken outside onto the patio or on their private balconies for families and friends to sit together, taking in the fresh air and looking out over the wonderful flowers, trees and pond.
The gardens are open to patients, visitors, staff and volunteers 365 days a year and are loved and treasured by all. As part of the National Open Garden Scheme, the gates are open to the public annually for other people to visit and Trinity also run regular guided ‘Talk & Tours’ at the hospice. Everyone is welcome and people can sign up online for free.
Today, all Trinity’s services are still free of charge to patients and their families. They need to raise over £13 million a year to supplement the NHS funding that they receive. With increased demand for access to palliative and end of life care only continuing to rise, future fundraising for all hospices throughout the UK is critical.
There are a number of ways that businesses can support Trinity, including fundraising, sponsoring an event, displaying a collection tin, providing raffle and auction prizes or by becoming a Trinity Local Business Hero. Their Local Business Hero programme was launched four years ago and they now have a growing number of businesses who support Trinity by raising £500 or more a year. whiteballoon is delighted to continue its commitment to being a Local Business Hero in the year ahead.
Families and friends generously support Trinity in many different ways, including attending events, such as their Light Up a Life concert on 11th December, fundraising, sponsoring a nurse or an online tribute, donations, gifts in wills, and their wonderful leaves on their Memory Tree. Their Memory Tree includes 150 leaves, each engraved with a name or short message, dedicated in memory of someone special. The tree is in the hospice reception and it’s one of the first things people see as they come through the door.
Thank you to the Royal Trinity Hospice, Hospice UK, and to all of the hospices throughout the country, that provide outstanding, compassionate care to individuals and families when they need it the most. Hospices are an invaluable part of the fabric of our society, and it is so important that together we help them to meet the futures challenges, enabling them to survive and thrive.