Donations to Garden House Hospice Care over the next week will be doubled at no extra cost to the donor as part of The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2022. 

The Letchworth-based Hospice is one of 1,021 charities nationwide participating in the Christmas Challenge which runs until noon on Tuesday, December 6.

The Big Give comes as the Hospice launches its Christmas Appeal, reaching out to the local community to help support the cost of the care that many families need over the festive period. The Hospice needs to raise £9,500 every day to fund its services, which is a 27% - or £2,000 a day – increase on two years ago. 

Carla Pilsworth is Interim CEO and Director of Income Generation at Garden House Hospice Care: "Life-limiting illnesses don't stop for Christmas and with your help, neither will we. In fact, it can feel even harder for patients at Christmas. GPs, pharmacies and other services are closed, family and friends go away, but symptoms remain.

"Some have the heart-breaking knowledge that this Christmas will be their last. Others are facing their first Christmas with an important person missing. We want people to know we are here to make the festive period easier, calmer and happier. 

"We will remain open for patients and their families throughout Christmas and New Year so they are reassured that someone is looking out for them and they can access the specialist care they need. Patients can stay on our Inpatient Unit, home visits will be made, support in care homes will continue, emotional support will be available and our helpline will be staffed. There will be touches of magic too, because despite everything they are facing, we believe Christmas can still be special." 

 She added: "The Big Give is an incredible opportunity for people across our community to support the vital specialist palliative care we provide for patients, families and carers, by having their donations doubled at no extra cost to them. For this one week only every £1 you give will be doubled to £2, ensuring you can make twice the impact and enable families to focus on togetherness over the holidays."  

During this time donations to Garden House Hospice Care page on The Big Give website (https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900002M5LCYAA3) will be match-funded by two charitable trusts, The Childwick Foundation and The Reed Foundation, up to a total of £35,000. If this amount was reached and therefore doubled, it would pay for seven days of care over Christmas. 

Charlotte's dad, Christopher, was diagnosed with brain cancer last August. He was bed bound within months. Charlotte and her family wanted to care for Christopher — who she described as 'dedicated to his family' — in the comfort of his own home in Stevenage. 

"When Christmas was coming, we knew dad was really poorly and we just wanted to have Christmas together. We wouldn't have been able to do it without the Hospice at Home team," said Charlotte. 

"It's really hard looking after someone at home. The Hospice at Home carers lifted us. They took the pressure off. Christmas Day was as near to normal as it could be. It was busy, noisy, there was wrapping paper everywhere, kids sitting on his bed, we had Christmas dinner, we played games around him." 

The team visited Christopher multiple times a day – including New Year's Eve. Charlotte's three children stayed up late to toast the New Year in with their grandad and sing auld lang syne together.  

"My son still tells me he loved it when they sung with grandad and held hands. It's a really special memory.  

"It was our last Christmas together, and we were able to have that time with dad in his own house, where he felt safe and loved." 

Donations to Garden House Hospice Care will ensure that other families like Charlotte's will have a Christmas with fewer worries because they have professionals looking out for them, providing the support and compassionate care they need.  

The Big Give Christmas Challenge runs until noon on Tuesday, December 6. To make a donation please visit https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900002M5LCYAA3 or alternatively visit www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/donate/general where you will be redirected. 

 Fiona_and_Dawn.jpg - Fiona and Dawn, two of Garden House Hospice Care's Hospice at Home team, who provide palliative care for patients in their own homes