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.
During her final days of life at Prospect Hospice Ros Marsh enjoyed a special treat by having her fingernails painted.
Ros’s husband, Dave, had never seen her nails painted in their 49 years of marriage and he was moved that Ros was able to enjoy this simple pleasure in the time she had left.
Dave said: “Ros was more interested in spending her money on our family than herself, such as getting her nails painted. But when she was in the hospice she was thrilled to have them done and they were painted bright red!
“They were painted by a volunteer who was in the inpatient unit supporting the nursing staff. Ros also had her arms and legs gently massaged with oils by the volunteer which she loved. It wasn’t done to relieve pain, it was just a nice experience for her and enabled her to relax for a few moments.
“The massage and having her nails painted were little things, but they meant a lot and it was an example of the personalised care the hospice gave Ros.”
Dave and Ros met when they were both teenagers and working at Comptons, a tailors in Sheppard Street, Swindon. Dave worked as a measure cutter while Ros worked as a sewing machinist. They began courting and were married four years later when Ros was 20 and Dave was 23.
“She was lovely, a really friendly person,” he said. “She loved her three children and 15 grandchildren and at work she was popular with her colleagues and pupils. She loved teaching children. She cared about them and they were so fond of her,” he said.
Ros was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2017 and the disease spread quickly meaning only palliative care could be given to manage her symptoms. She died at Prospect Hospice in January 2018, aged 68.
Dave is immensely grateful that the hospice was there to care for Ros and support him. He said: “Ros wasn’t keen to go into the hospice, but in the end she was pleased to be there as she received the expert care she needed. She was very poorly but the staff made sure she was comfortable.
“They looked after her very well and she had everything she needed. The hospice is such a special place. The staff were so welcoming when we visited Ros, making sure we were ok and always asking how we were.”
The compassionate and personalised care his wife received inspired Dave, of Rodbourne, Swindon, to become a volunteer with the charity.
As a retired bus driver and control room operator he was drawn to a volunteer transport role that he saw advertised.
Dave, 75, joined the charity’s retail team in October 2018 as a van driver’s assistant and volunteers eight hours a day, two days a week. He enjoys the team spirit among the charity’s staff and volunteers and knowing that he is helping the hospice to continue providing care to others in need.
He said: “I didn’t really understand what the hospice did until Ros was cared for and I saw for myself why we need hospice care in our community.
“The hospice has to raise a lot of money to provide its services and their shops are an important part in helping to raise income and I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that I’m helping it to do this.
“Volunteering also gives me something to do and it keeps me fit. The people I work with are lovely and it’s nice to chat with the shop managers.”
Find out more about how you can support the work of the hospice with a regular gift here.