Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care marks Hospice Care Week by shining light on local services

Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care is marking the week by shining a spotlight on the care it offers to people living with a life-limiting illness or affected by bereavement in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.

Jackie Tritton, chief clinical officer at Rennie Grove Peace, explains: “Although many people associate it with death, modern hospice care is all about life – enhancing the quality of someone's life while they are living with a life-limiting illness. For some people the time may be short and for others it is longer. In all cases hospice care exists to support each person’s emotional, psychological and spiritual needs, as well as their medical needs, following the diagnosis of a life-limiting illness.

“At Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care we support people right from the point of diagnosis, supporting them to live well throughout their illness with things like exercise classes, physiotherapy, complementary therapies, peer support and counselling, as well as our hospice at home and inpatient services. We are also here for families and those close to each patient, and support people in our community through bereavement and beyond.”

As a charity Rennie Grove Peace receives only 14 per cent of its funding from government sources and relies on the generosity of the local community to raise the other 86 per cent of its running costs.

Around one third of the charity’s income each year is generated by its retail business. With 33 shops on high streets throughout Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire as well as a thriving online business, the charity’s retail operation raised £4.4million last financial year.

Stewart Marks, chief executive at Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care, says: “Hospice Care Week is a great opportunity to address some of the myths around hospice care and tell our communities exactly what we do and how we can support them if they need us. Our incredible local supporters are the lifeblood of what we do. I’m pleased to see retail and trading in the spotlight this year. Without local people donating goods, volunteering in or shopping at our high street shops, we couldn’t raise the vital income we need to continue offering our services.

“But as Hospice UK has highlighted, people shopping on the high street don’t realise that vital local hospice care is reliant on the sale of pre-loved jeans and vintage items. This Hospice Care Week we’re supporting Hospice UK in highlighting the injustice in the current funding model and calling on policy makers to ensure fairer funding for hospice care.”

For more information on the care Rennie Grove Peace provides in your area, visit renniegrovepeace.org.