At the end of May I retired as Chief Executive of St Richard’s Hospice after eleven marvellous years.
The life of a charity Chief Executive is never dull; from the highs of royal visits to open our multi million pound new hospice, to being asked to open a garage, or the mundane of mopping out a flooded cellar at Rose Hill, there has always been great variety.
One of the most enjoyable aspects has been the opportunity to meet and talk to so many people whether they are patients and families, or a complete variety of Worcestershire folk.
The expansion over that period has been quite extraordinary as St Richard’s has striven to meet the ever increasing demands for high quality palliative and end of life care.
Greater need equals more trained staff equals more costs. Importantly it means the right sort of highly motivated and skilled staff which we are fortunate to have in Worcestershire.
St Richard’s has a fantastic team of doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers, counsellors and chaplains. I stand in awe of these very dedicated people who look after our patients, families and carers across our community as well as at the hospice in Wildwood Drive, Worcester, day in and day out.
They are supported by equally dedicated staff in our HR, IT, Facilities and Administration areas. Essential to our survival are our Fundraising and Shops teams. We now have in excess of 230 staff who are further supported by approximately 1,000 volunteers in a very wide variety of roles.
We are a community within the wider community of our county, and it is that county that supports St Richard’s financially with their donations. These donations fund more than 75% of our income and are vital to our survival. The statistics of dying never change and as the population of Worcestershire gets older the demand for St Richard’s hospice care increases.
So on my departure I would like to say thank you to wonderful Worcestershire for your super people and your support. You have a superb hospice, please continue to nurture it.
Mark Jackson
Recently retired Chief Executive, St Richard’s Hospice