St Margaret’s Hospice Care is proud to be one of 143 hospices across England, Scotland, and Wales taking part in the “This is Hospice Care” campaign, a powerful initiative led by Hospice UK. This nationwide campaign highlights the vital role hospices play in our communities and aims to inspire people to leave a gift in their Will to protect the future of hospice care.
Launching with a moving television advert that will air across the nation, from the 17 February for two weeks, the campaign brings hospice care into the spotlight—showcasing the diverse, personal, and unexpected ways hospices provide care and comfort. St Margaret’s Hospice is proud to lend a local voice to this national effort, ensuring Somerset communities feel connected to the campaign and inspired to help safeguard hospice care for future generations.
Now in their 45th year, St Margaret’s Hospice has been supporting individuals and families across Somerset with expert, compassionate care during life’s most challenging moments. Whether at home or in one of our hospices, we help around 5,000 people each year live well for as long as possible and provide comfort and dignity at the end-of-life. We’ve been caring for generations and often care for the next generation of the same family. Today, as demand for hospice services continues to grow, we’re asking our community to help safeguard this care for future generations by leaving a gift in their Will.
“Your Gift is Our Future – help hospice care live on”
Hospice care is free at the point of need, but it isn’t free to provide. Last year, 72% of St Margaret’s funding came from charitable donations, including gifts left in Wills, enabling us to deliver care to hundreds of patients and their families. One in three of our patients are cared for thanks to gifts left in wills, their importance cannot be overstated.
At the heart of the campaign are the stories of real people whose end-of-life journeys have been made more positive, with lasting memories created thanks to the care provided through gifts in Wills. For St Margaret’s, David and Lynda are one such family who turned to the hospice during one of the most challenging periods of their lives.
After a 45-year career as a dentist, David and Lynda were ready to embrace retirement. However, their plans took an unexpected turn when David was diagnosed with prostate cancer just before their dream trip to New York. Despite this, they remained hopeful and created cherished memories on their journey together. As David’s health worsened, they reached out to St Margaret’s Hospice for help. Soon after, Angie, one of the dedicated Community Nurse Specialists, entered their lives. Lynda recalls that moment vividly, “It was like nectar from heaven – help was here.”
Angie quickly became a lifeline for the family, ensuring David had the support he needed to remain at home while managing his pain and providing comfort to his loved ones. “Angie was amazing,” Lynda says. “She visited regularly, made sure we had all the equipment and medication David needed, and always made us feel like she was part of the family.”
David’s determination to live well, despite his illness, was clear when he expressed his greatest wish: to walk his daughter, Delia, down the aisle at her wedding.
“Angie immediately jumped into action to help make that happen,” Lynda recalls. David began attending sessions at the Sunflower Centre, St Margaret’s day hospice, where he gained physical and emotional strength. Through a mix of physiotherapy, peer support, and medical care, David found the resilience he needed to work towards his goal. His determination, coupled with the hospice’s unwavering care, allowed him to walk his daughter down the aisle and deliver what Delia calls “the most articulate and beautiful speech a daughter could ever wish for.”
The hospice’s impact extended beyond David’s care. It provided his family with peace of mind and unforgettable moments of joy. Lynda reflects, “Thanks to St Margaret’s, David didn’t just attend our daughter’s wedding; he danced with us all night. I will forever be grateful for those memories.”
David passed away just a month after the wedding, but his wish was fulfilled, and the family was able to celebrate together one last time. For families like David’s, a gift in a Will ensures that St Margaret’s Hospice can continue providing care that supports not only the individual but their loved ones during life’s most difficult times.
Research shows that 51% of adults in the UK do not have a Will. Making a Will, especially one that includes a charitable gift, is a powerful way to support causes close to your heart. By leaving a gift to St Margaret’s Hospice, supporters can ensure that care continues for generations to come.
Join us in making hospice care a legacy that lives on for generations for all, now, forever. By including a gift in your Will, you can help protect hospice care so that it remains available, free of charge, to those who need it most.
For more information about leaving a gift in your Will, and how you can do so for free with Octopus Legacy, please visit st-margarets-hospice.org.uk/wills.