Free wills month: Leaving a gift to St Wilfrid’s Hospice in your will can make a big difference

In fact, one in three nurses at St Wilfrid’s is paid for through gifts left in wills.

Throughout June local solicitors are volunteering their time to enable you to make or amend your will in exchange for a donation to St Wilfrid’s Hospice.

Olga amended her will to remember St Wilfrid’s in light of the care and support she received.

Olga was born in Poland in 1928, where she lived until the outbreak of war in 1939. She and her mother came to Eastbourne in 1948, where Olga started working in a nursing home. She qualified as a nurse in 1953 and was very proud to receive her certificate from Princess Alice personally in October of that year.

After 40 years of service, Olga retired from the NHS in 1993. Her overriding passions were her garden and her Pekingese dogs.

When Olga became too unwell to take on a new puppy, a friend arranged for some dogs from a local Pekingese rescue to visit her at home.

Olga would sit on the floor surrounded by half a dozen Pekes all trying to fuss over her; she was in her element.

Olga was first supported at home by St Wilfrid’s Care at Home team before spending five weeks on its Inpatient Unit in 2018 for pain management.

Olga loved being cared for at St Wilfrid’s, where she was able to enjoy visits from her neighbours and many friends, which she described as ‘so marvellous’.

She then moved into a nursing home, where she died peacefully on December 28, just six days short of her 90th birthday.

To find out more about amending your will in this month’s scheme visit stwhospice.org/free-wills-to find participating solicitors or phone John Summers on 01323 437429 for more information.