Patients at St Richard’s Hospice will benefit from specialist gym equipment – thanks to a donation from the Nationwide Foundation.
The Foundation donated £4,800 for the Worcester-based hospice to buy an exercise treadmill. The specialist equipment will be installed in the new exercise studio which is being built as part of the St Richard’s Build 2020 project to expand and redevelop their base at Wildwood Drive, Worcester.
Sarah Taylor and Tricia Carrington from Nationwide Evesham visited the hospice to meet physiotherapist Gill Jubb and patient Roy Briscoe to find out how using individually-designed exercise programmes can improve well-being.
Gill Jubb explained, “Exercise has been shown to be of great benefit in the palliative stages of life limiting diseases including neurological conditions, renal, respiratory and heart disease and can relieve symptoms, reduce stress and anxiety and depression and improve sleep.”
She added, “When our new exercise studio opens patients like Roy will have a programme of exercise to meet their needs, they will be able to come for supervised group sessions with a physio and then to drop in sessions where they feel safe and welcome.
“Many patients find it difficult to join programmes in the wider community as their condition requires specialist supervision of exercise and they need more support. They also find it very helpful to meet others in a similar situation.”
Hospice Trust Fundraiser Julia Wolff said, “We are extremely grateful to the Nationwide Foundation for their generous donation and ongoing support of our care. We know the new treadmill will make a real difference to the well -being of our patients.”
Sarah Taylor, Branch Manager from Nationwide Evesham, said, “Doing what is right by our members and their communities goes to the heart of what it means to be a building society. We are pleased to be able to support St Richard’s Hospice and assist them in purchasing the treadmill for the new build, which will benefit so many people. We can’t wait to see the build project once it is finished.”
St Richard’s Hospice provides free specialist palliative and end of life care for patients living with life-limiting illnesses and supports their loved ones. Each year the hospice team supports more than 3,000 patients, family members and bereaved people in Worcestershire.
The hospice strives to provide the best medical, practical, emotional and social support they can to help people live life to the fullest, as independently as they can, for as long as they can. They care for people with a range of illnesses including heart failure, Parkinson’s, and motor neurone disease as well as cancer.
St Richard’s is running the Build 2020 Appeal which aims to raise the final £1.4m needed to build a bigger hospice, enabling more patients and families to be cared for in Worcestershire.
The total cost for expanding and redeveloping the existing building in Wildwood Drive, Worcester, is £5.3m.