Duchess of Kent House Hospice - Reading Transport's Charity of the Year 2012

Reading Buses is delighted to announce that we have once again chosen the Duchess of Kent House Hospice as our Charity of the Year after a successful partnership in 2011.

Our Charity of the Year is local and covers the same areas as our bus network, so we are delighted to be working with them for a second straight year.  You will already have seen their logo inside all of our buses, and we will use our on-bus posters to let you know of future fundraising events they are organising in and around Reading.

Here is a bit more about them and what their fundraising goes toward...

One of the slogans of Duchess of Kent House Charity is ‘Fundraising the Future’ and the charity is proud not only to have donated over £1,500,000 to supporting palliative care in our local area in the last five years, but also to plan to increase our contribution by 50% by 2012.

All this is only possible with the help of our donors – individual, corporate, institutional and associations.

Being a small local charity, focused precisely on helping local people and their families suffering from life-shortening diseases you know that any gift or donation you make helps people in Newbury, Reading, Wokingham and surrounding areas. There is no grand London HQ to pay for; nor is the money used outside Berkshire. Our small admin team supplemented by a dedicated group of trained volunteers is on site at the hospice, ready to help and advise.

Because much of what we raise in the fundraising office is used for ‘revenue’ items such as extra beds, services and nursing staff, the charity does not receive or is eligible to receive many grants from trusts, grant-making bodies, or indeed the National Lottery. Our most important givers are therefore local groups and individuals – like you.

Background

There are approximately 220 hospices / palliative care units in the UK, making Britain a global leader in hospice care. Hospices as a place for the care of those where cure is no longer possible, but dedicated care certainly is have been around for over 150 years. In the UK, the comprehensive coverage we now benefit from is largely a result of local initiatives and fundraising campaigns started 20 or more years ago. Duchess of Kent House is one such example, fundraised under the ‘Buy a Brick for Dellwood’ slogan (Dellwood is the generic name for our site). Although the charitable money raised was from local people and companies the unit, once opened in 1992 was handed over to the NHS to operate. Designed as a full-service hospice, Duchess of Kent House now has 16 in-patient beds, day therapy facilities (3 days a week), out-patients and a Family Support Service (bereavement). In the last 15 years over 12,000 patients have been treated and cared-for by a team of 50 (full-time equivalent) consultants, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational and speech therapists, admin & site staff, etc. This care continues after death for those relatives who wish it through the FSS. All care is provided free of charge, according to need.

As with all parts of the National Health Service there is never enough money to pay for all aspects of what we technically call ‘specialist palliative care’.

This is where the independent charity Duchess of Kent House Charity comes in.

It was formed in 2001 to concentrate fundraising to benefit the House, and consists of one full-time fundraising manager, two part-time helpers and 5 office volunteers. In the financial year 2006-7 we raised through local support over £500,000, our best year yet with 30% coming from legacies.

There are two elements to the support we provide:

1.To extend provision and help more patients than the unit has budget for, and
2.To enhance services or fund services in their entirety that otherwise would not exist.

2011 Charity of the Year - Duchess of Kent House Charity 

A successful partnership for 2011 saw us raise over £5200 for Duchess of Kent House Charity.

2010 Charity of the Year - Help for Heroes

During 2010 we raised over £4500 for Help for Hereos

For more information please visit www.helpforhereos.org.uk

2009 Charity of the Year - Thames Valley Air Ambulance

During 2009 we raised over £3000 for the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance

For more information and help please visit: www.tvacaa.org

2008 Charity of the Year - Macmillan Cancer Support 

During 2008 we raised £3008.05 for MacMillan Cancer Support.

For more information and help, please visit: www.macmillan.org.uk.