Cheshire’s high sheriff paid a visit to St Luke’s Hospice recently, to see the work of the hospice and to learn more about the how the charity is coping post-pandemic.
Jeannie France Hayhurst described the facilities at St Luke’s as uplifting, and was joined on her visit by Debbie Smith who is donor account manager for Cheshire Community Foundation.
The Cheshire Community Foundation raises funds to support hundreds of small charities and voluntary groups across county, and has awarded more than £10 million worth of grants in 10 years.
St Luke’s Hospice CEO, Neil Wright, said: “We are delighted that we can now start to welcome visitors on site once again at the hospice and we hope to host more visits over the coming months so that we can be back in touch with all our kind supporters and community stakeholders.”
Like many healthcare organisations, visitors have been very limited at the hospice for a long time.
As the guidelines continue to adapt, St Luke’s has now begun to welcome visitors back on site.
Mr Wright added: “We continue to build on our work and service to serve local families and having visitors enables us to share our work and aims to a wider network, the visit was a great highlight for us and hopefully the start of many more.”
Being the high sheriff of Cheshire is a voluntary role, and the incumbent usually takes a very active role with charities in the county.
Amongst a number of other appointments, Jeannie France-Hayhurst is on the board of trustees at the Cheshire Community Foundation along with the former high sheriff – and St Luke’s Hospice president – Lady Redmond.
Speaking about her visit to St Luke’s, Mrs France-Hayhurst said: “The sunshine matched the uplifting atmosphere of St Luke’s where so much wonderful work is being done.
“We all have someone who either needs or will need sensitive care and this is a place where it’s provided with gentleness, cheerfulness and great kindness.”
Caption: (L-R) Jeannie France Hayhurst (High Sheriff of Cheshire), Neil Wright (St Luke’s Hospice CEO) and Kate Estcourt (St Luke’s Hospice director of care)
