Eastbourne hospice receives £19,100 grant

St Wilfrid’s Hospice, which is in Broadwater Way, received the grant from the Morrisons Foundation.

The donation will enable the hospice to introduce new tablet-based technology to help provide better care for the most vulnerable patients in their inpatient ward, according to a spokesperson from the supermarket.

The spokesperson said the tablets will be allocated to each room enabling nurses, patients and their family members to track symptoms through an easy-to-use app.

Nurse Ruth Bacon, the head of inpatient care at St Wilfrid’s Hospice, said, “It is absolutely fantastic to have further generous support from the Morrisons Foundation.

“The grant will pay for tablets for each of our inpatient rooms.

“Having tablets available in each room will enable us to offer more patient-centred and responsive care.”

The Eastbourne hospice has a 20-bed inpatient unit and in 2020/21 the charity provided support to over 2,320 patients, family members and carers, according to the supermarket spokesperson.

Community champion Kim Hatcher-Davies and the team at the Morrisons store in Lottbridge Drove presented the grant.

The Eastbourne community champion, whose job it is to support local groups, said, “I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve been able to provide such a huge donation to such a worthy cause, particularly during this festive time of the year.

“The challenges of the past couple of years have been so difficult for so many charities and to be able to help such a well-loved charity in our community really does make us all so very proud.”

The Morrisons Foundation was set up by the supermarket in 2015 and awards grants for charity projects which help improve people’s lives.

Since launching, more than £34 million has been donated to hundreds of charities across England, Scotland and Wales.