Sharon Wheeler, Chestnut Tree House: show your love for hospice care this winter

At the end of this week, letters will be landing with our supporters asking them to ‘show their love’ for hospice care as we launch our winter appeal.

This year, we are sharing the story of Kai and his mums Leanne and Sara, and sister Aya. They have been part of the Chestnut Tree House family for several years and dear Kai came to us for support at the end of his life just before Christmas last year.

Mums Leanne and Sara describe that moment like ‘coming home’. They said “…we could just breathe, hold Kai’s hand, and be a family again.”

And that moment is at the heart of our appeal: what is important, and what matters when we know time is short? For Kai’s family, and for many of you I am sure, it is the simple things which matter: a family meal shared together, a smile, or a hand held tightly. Hospice care makes all this and more possible, but we couldn’t do any of it without the support of our local communities.

For Chestnut, less than a tenth of our costs are covered by our NHS grant. We support around 300 families a year, providing specialist palliative and end-of-life care as well as offer in-house respite, activities and bereavement support. Together, our teams find ways for families to show their love.

Kai had a smile you would never forget. Those cheeky eyes said a million words, and we will feel forever honoured to have been able to support him and his family when it mattered most. A cuddle bed – an extendable hospital bed – was something new to us last year, and it meant that Kai and his loved ones could cuddle up, not a wire or machine in sight, and just be a family.

Please do visit the website and watch Kai’s story when it launches at the weekend. It’s beautiful and, for me, exemplifies why we all do this work. Because it’s not really like work some days; it’s a privilege and one we never take for granted. A huge thank you in advance for all your support and I hope you can join us and show your love for hospice care.