First stage of Rennie Grove Hospice Care and Peace Hospice Care charity merger begins

Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire hospice charities, Rennie Grove Hospice Care and Peace Hospice Care have today confirmed that the proposed merger will be going ahead this month.

The organisation will now be known as Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care and the merger integration will see over 370 staff and 1500 volunteers bought together to offer improved and extended care to people in the two counties.

Chief executive of Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care Stewart Marks said: “I am delighted with the sheer amount of hard work that has been happening behind the scenes across all departments to combine the two successful charities and achieve our vision of growth in our new bigger catchment area.”

The merger, which was first announced in June, was proposed in the hope of increasing the reach and scope of the services which are offered to those living with life-limiting illnesses and bereavement counselling services for anyone affected by grief in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Chair of Trustees of the new organisation, Dr Jeremy Shindler said that the reaction to the news of the merger has been ‘overwhelmingly positive’.

Dr Schindler explained: “We are especially delighted that our staff are already combining forces to lay out plans for how our services will extend efficiently across this wider catchment area covering over one million local people.”

He added: “We are on track to deliver our action plans for the next 18 months of merger integration and excited to work with the wider community.”