At Prospect Hospice, we provide outstanding, personalised and compassionate care for everyone in Swindon, Marlborough and the surrounding areas affected by a life-limiting illness, completely free of charge. For more than 40 years, we’ve been a dedicated, non-hospital, end-of-life care service for patients and their loved ones - around the clock, every day of the year. Our mission is to ensure that anyone can access the best possible expert care whenever and wherever they need it – whether at the hospice or in their own home. As a charity, we only exist because of the generosity and support of our amazing local community.
Find out about the range of end-of-life care services that we offer to patients and their families. These delivered free of charge and are designed to provide compassionate, personalised support during every stage of a life-limiting illness in every kind of care setting, to anyone who needs it.
We couldn’t do what we do without considerable support from our local community. Find out all the different ways in which you can support Prospect Hospice, including fundraising, volunteering and purchasing from our shops. All contributions are greatly appreciated and enables us to deliver care that is free of charge to our patients and their families.
Our café sits at the heart of our hospice in Wroughton and serves a range of delicious home cooked meals to suit all tastes. Whether you're looking to catch up with friends over lunch or relax with coffee and cake, our Heart of the Hospice café has you covered.
Whether shopping with us in person or online, or donating your pre-loved goods, we thank you for supporting us through our shops where you help to raise around £2million a year for Prospect Hospice.
We pride ourselves on being a great place to work and we're always looking for outstanding people to join our team at the hospice across all areas of the charity.
Prospect Hospice is the leading provider of education and training for end-of-life care in Swindon and north Wiltshire. Working closely with you, our colleagues within partner organisations, we want to ensure that the very best care is available to everyone facing the end of life. This is why we provide education and development opportunities, all of which aim to encourage learning and build confidence in end of life care and support.
Harry was the kind of guy who lit up a room. He had a big presence, he loved the gym, he loved to run, he loved his wife and family, and he was training to join the army, he didn’t talk about his feelings and then he was diagnosed with cancer and died when he was 24.
Life can be hard. Life can be unfair but out of something truly awful comes hope and a powerful legacy.
Harry’s legacy is Ken Blanton, the Prospect Hospice’s psychotherapist and psycho-spiritual care lead. Ken’s role is complex but, in a nutshell, he helps patients reconcile themselves, giving them the ability to understand the positive impact they’ve had on their family and friends around them.
Ken says: ‘Its very common for end-of-life patients to hallucinate, experience horrible dreams. Often their behaviour changes as they’re acting out through anger and fear.’
This was the case with Harry. Harry’s wife Sinead says: ‘Harry was always so physically so fit, when he became paralysed, due to this illness, he was lost. Fitness had always been his outlet.’
He experienced a really dark period but then he did what he knew best and got on with it. He started to journal, write down his feelings, read self-help books, and even explored meditation. This was a new side of Harry; he would talk to me and his family about his feelings and after a long journey he found peace and joy.
Harry was a patient at the hospice on several occasions, while he was ill his family and friends set up a just-giving page for specialist treatment. Unfortunately, Harry died before he was able to benefit from the money they raised.
This took Harry’s family on a journey of soul searching, as they thought long and hard about how they could best honour Harry’s legacy. They knew the money had to be used to help people find peace and joy in their final weeks.
After meeting with Prospect Hospice, they agreed that Harry’s money could do so much good.
Sinead said: ‘If Harry had lived, he would be doing what Ken is doing now. He wanted to help people find peace and acceptance in their darkest days. To know Harry is doing exactly this through Ken, brings me enormous comfort.’
Harry’s Fund has enabled Ken’s role to be funded two days a week, where he offers specialist psychological and psychospiritual care to end of life patients, as well as education to the clinical staff and community.
Although Ken was never fortunate to meet Harry he says: ‘I’m so thankful that I can get to know Harry a little bit more through conversations with Sinead, his mum and dad. A huge thank you to all of them. Without them we’d be bereft.’