St Nicholas Hospice Care is celebrating after its Community Hospice Team was awarded £316,545 from the Big Lottery Fund.
The massive grant will cover core running costs of the Community Hospice Team, a service which helps patients suffering life-threatening illness to receive specialist care in their own homes where possible.
The Team was set up last March and has supported hundreds of patients and their families from West Suffolk and Thetford.
And thanks to the grant, a team of palliative care professionals will continue to work alongside district nurses and GPs to provide planned and emergency care.
“The Community Hospice Team is a vital service, which plays a pivotal role enabling patients to remain in their own homes for as long as possible."
Trevor Farrington, Head of the Community Hospice Team, said: “We are overjoyed at receiving this award from the Big Lottery Fund.
“We are delighted that this valued service can continue for the next two years thanks to this grant.”
Barbara Gale, Hospice Chief Executive, said: “So many patients prefer to receive care in their own homes, surrounded by their family, pets and possessions and we believe where possible patients have the right to receive this.
“But while this grant is so wonderful and welcome, it only equates to less than a month of our annual operating costs of £4.8million.
“We are still anticipating a challenging financial year and we still need the support of the entire community.”
Sara Betsworth, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the East of England, said: “The death of a loved one is always traumatic so the ongoing support for family members in addition to the dedicated care for terminally ill patients makes this service extremely valuable."
