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.
Prospect Hospice has over 800 volunteers who help in a diverse range of roles, from working in the hospice, supporting fundraising activities to serving people in their charity shops, however with shops closed and events cancelled, many of these roles are now on hold.
Graham Biggs, volunteering operations and recruitment officer at Prospect Hospice said, “During this difficult time, most of our volunteering positions have had to stop, but when we needed some extra support in our inpatient unit at the hospice, our volunteers jumped at the chance to help.
“Prospect Hospice has continued to admit people to their ward during the pandemic. We know how important it is to our patients to be able to see their family and to help us achieve this our volunteers are covering essential screening checks. All our visitors really appreciate still being allowed to visit the person they love, and everything that we have put in place to keep them safe whilst doing so.
“Two of our volunteers Cathy and Tay, who usually volunteer with the hospice’s therapy team had to stop their volunteering roles last year due to the pandemic and they were delighted to get the call to help some of our other volunteers in the inpatient unit. As well as helping with the essential screening checks, they are also helping out in other areas of the inpatient unit, including sitting with patients to chat, restocking supplies and keeping areas clean and tidy, and most importantly making tea and coffee not just for the patients, but also the nurses. This support enables the nurses and health care assistants more valuable time to focus on patient care.
Cathy said, “It’s a privilege to be asked to help and offer my skills to this worthwhile cause. The lockdown has been difficult for many and this allows me to give some of my time on helping others.
Tay is an ex-nurse so was delighted to be able to help in a small way at the charity’s inpatient unit. As well as helping with essential screening checks, Tay is also able to support their patients with the M-Technique, a massage treatment as part of her therapy skills.
Tay said “She loves being a part of the hospice and it’s a privilege to help the inpatient unit team. It means there are more hands to help the nursing team and they are so friendly and helpful. I really look forward to my two visits every week and it also helps me to get out and do something worthwhile.
Due to the pandemic, the hospice isn’t currently seeking new volunteers as it is unable to take them through the full induction at this time, however, they are keeping in contact with those who would like to donate their time to the hospice in the future.
Graham said, “Volunteers play a huge part in the success and sustainability of our hospice, and donate their time to help us provide care and support to local people, and we are incredibly grateful, as we couldn’t do all that we do without them. All of our volunteers continue to show their support for us every day and we can’t wait to welcome them all back across the charity when it is safe to do so.”
If you’re interested in finding out more about volunteering with Prospect Hospice you can email the team via volunteering@prospect-hospice.net or call 01793 816193.
Image: R-L, Cathy and Tay
11 March 2021
03 March 2021