The voices and memories of people involved in 30 years of St Richard’s Hospice is now available as an oral history talk.

 Thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery, St Richard’s was able to track down and record the stories of key people since the hospice started in 1984. The collection of oral history interviews includes fascinating audio recordings; of nurses, doctors, administrators, fund raisers, volunteers, patients and family members.

Extracts from the audio have also been created into themed areas, hearing different voices recollect memories of the early challenges, funding, volunteers, patient experiences, the growing business and the next 30 years.

Oral historian Julia Letts has created a talk which features some of these extraordinary stories which will be presented by a team of volunteers. The talk is approximately 35 minutes long but can be adapted to suit the needs of groups and organisations wishing to book a speaker.

Mark Jackson, Chief Executive of St Richard’s said, “We want as many people as possible to hear our oral history collection so we’ve created the talk and also a mobile audio point which will tour the county.  We now have a unique set of recordings which will ensure that the extraordinary stories of our history are saved and shared in the future.”

The St Richard’s Project was led by a professional oral history specialist with the help of a team of volunteers.  The voices are now available to hear on www.strichardsvoices.org.uk   The full interviews with transcriptions and summaries will be available at the Worcestershire Record Office in The Hive.

Anyone wishing to book the oral history talk is asked to contact Katie Willington,  Fundraising Administration Manager, at St Richard’s Hospice on 01905 763963 or email

St Richard’s Hospice provides free specialist palliative care for patients living with life-limiting illnesses and supports their families. Each year the hospice team supports over 2,600 patients and family members in Worcestershire with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

Patients are cared for in Day Hospice, the 17-bed In-patient Unit or in their own homes by a specialist professional team as well as many trained volunteers.

In the In-patient Unit, specialist staff are on hand 24 hours a day to manage patients’ symptoms and where, if appropriate, patients may spend the last few days of life in comfort and dignity. St Richard’s is an independent charity and is grateful for all donations to help it to continue its work.