Tell us your Wakefield Hospice story and help our new fundraising campaign

This leap year Wakefield Hospice has to fund an extra day of care on February 29.

And we want to hear you stories of how the organisation has affected your life or the lives of those close to you.

Wakefield Hospice cares for patients with any life-limiting illness, including cancer, motor neurone disease and chronic heart and lung disease.

It looks after anyone over the age of 18, either as a visiting out-patient, or on our ward where we offer 24-hour specialist care.

The hospice helps people live better with their illness, with around half who stay eventually returning home.

Many choose the safety and dignity of hospice for care at the end of their life.

This care is given 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

However, 2020 is a leap year, meaning the hopsice is providing care for 366 days, and needs to find an extra £11,500 to cover the additional day’s costs. Today, in conjunction with the Express, the hospice is launching its Leap Year Appeal and calling upon you to help them care for some of the district’s most vulnerable people.

It costs a lot to provide hospice services. An hour of personalised nursing care is £25.

Thirty minutes of hospice life is £250.

One week’s medical supplies are £300.

A year’s supply of tea bags is £454.

A syringe driver is £1,076 - on average we replace 3 each year.

When Geoff Trigg came to the hospice as a volunteer in 1990 he never expected to be there 30 years later.

His interests in music and model making led Geoff to believe that he could support day service users by sharing his hobbies and providing a listening ear to patients and carers coming to terms with difficult life events.

Over the years Geoff has seen many changes in the delivery of services but throughout his time as a volunteer he has been a steadfast and loyal part of the team and a community ambassador for the hospice.

His claim to fame is that when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited the unit on 27 March 1992 she offered to help with the crossword Geoff was completing.

Geoff has made many enduring friendships while volunteering and feels privileged that he has being able to be of service to others for so many years.

Students Haroon and Zaid originally came to the hospice because they felt experience in a healthcare setting would be useful in their ambitions to study medicine.

The opportunity to be among people facing life-limiting illnesses, hearing first-hand the impact that can have on an individual and those around them gave these students a chance to develop many important life skills, effective communication, teamwork, empathy and the value of person-centred care.

Both felt that their experience had certainly been useful in their university applications and interviews.

They could quote both theoretical and practical examples of why they might eventually become good doctors.

Both agreed that they had been in privileged positions and had gained a lot from their time in a hospice.It costs in the region of £4 million to deliver the hospice’s services to patients and their families each year. It receives only 25 percent of its funding from statutory sources - the rest comes from fundraising.

For this reason the hospice is are deeply grateful for any donation towards the cost of care, or for your support of our fundraising initiatives.

There are many ways you can support its work, from taking part in an event or making a regular monthly donation, to including a small gift in your will. That help will ensure that the hospice is here to care for others in the future.

Many of the hospice’s patients are in the final stages of their illness, whilst others are admitted to the in-patient unit to have their symptoms controlled or for support with their problems.

The average length of an admission for a patient on the ward is 12 days.

Approximately half of our patients are discharged home or to a nursing home at the end of their stay with us.

Some patients have several admissions and discharges during the course of their illness.

The hospice is a registered charity and our services are completely free to patients who need palliative care.

This is made possible by the generosity of everyone who supports the hospice, from individuals to local companies and community groups.

Palliative care aims to provide relief from pain and other distressing symptoms.

It acknowledges that the physiological, social and spiritual aspects of care are equally important as the physical wellbeing.

To donate to the Leap Year Appeal visit www.wakefieldhospice.org/Support-Us/Fundraising/Donate