Shipston Home Nursing was launched in June 1997. The idea came about from a district nurse in Shipston called Charlie Wells, whose sister died of cancer in May 1992. Penny Birtwell lived in Cherington with her husband Andy and 2 small children George and Beatrice. She remained at home untill her death with the terrific support of her amazing family and friends. This was her wish and the experience for all concerned was life changing. From this experience, Charlie realised the enormous need for a service "Hospice at Home" to cover our local community. She moved forward with the help of local doctors from the Medical Centre at Shipston and local businessmen and friends. A board of Trustees was created, a Treasurer sourced and a target of £50,000 was set for the first year.
Our Treasurer, Chris Owen, lives in Cherington and the secretary for the Trustees is James Little from Shipston. Our board of 12 Trustees all live within our catchment area and are responsible for the charity.
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Many thanks to Dr Chris Thorogood who recently stepped down after seven years as Shipston Home Nursing Chairman. You can read a statement from Chris here. Dr Clive Irwin will be taking over the position of Chairman, and we wish him the very best of luck. |
Dr Clive Irwin
- Chairman |
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Christopher Owen
- Treasurer |
Shipston Home Nursing provides palliative care through its team of professional nurses.
Palliative care is the active, total care of patients whose illness no longer responds to curative treatment and who wish to have the best quality of life for themselves and their families.
Palliative care is now a widely recognised form of specialist medical care, focusing on the control of pain and other symptoms associated with a terminal illness. Above all it endeavours to ease suffering and enhance the quality of life for both patient and family.
In itself, palliative care neither hastens nor postpones death and pays equal attention to meeting the physical, pyschological, social and spiritual aspects of care.
Hospice at Home is provided free by Shipston Home Nursing which is a registered charity administered by a Board of Trustees. It relies on the generosity of those supporting it.
- Gifts, legacies, contributions or covenants from patients, relatives, friends and other supporters.
- Sponsorship or donations from Trusts and businesses.
- Reimbursement of monies from Private Health Insurancies.
- Fund-raising activities by local groups and individuals.
Sir, In September you ran a feature on Shipston Home Nursing, a local charity that provides care for terminally ill people in their own homes.
Just a week after your feature, we started receiving the benefit of their excellent service when my mum was discharged from hospital. After nearly two years of suffering with ovarian cancer, there was nothing more the doctors could do. My mum didn't want to die in a hospital or hospice, surrounded by strangers in unfamiliar surroundings, she wanted to die at home.
And thanks to the help and support provided by Shipston Home Nursing, plus the equally wonderful district nurses, she was able to do just that. She spent her last two weeks at home with me and my dad, passing away peacefully on 9th October. The nurses didn't just take care of my mum, they took care of us too, and we will always appreciate it.
Thank you for initially bringing the charity to our attention. Thanks also to our family, friends and neighbours who have generously provided donations in the total amount of £850.
This money has been passed on to Shipston Home Nursing to help other families facing similar circumstances.
Tracy Davidson, Armscote (Originally printed in Stratford upon avon Herald, 18th November 2010)
My attention was first drawn to the Shipston home Nursing group a few years ago when I was teaching at a school near Banbury. Each Easter term the children in each year group used to raise money for their chosen charity and one year it was the turn of Shipston Home Nursing.
It was not until about 20 months ago that I realised what it really was all about. My wife Sue, had been diagnosed with Ovarian cancer and she had been through the mill with a major operation and several sessions of chemotherapy. This was devastating to all of us as a family, and it caused lots of uncertainty
in our lives. Sue gradually became weaker and it was obvious that the dreaded C was taking its toll. Time was short, and we had two family weddings lined up which she was looking forward to.
At the beginning of May 2009, it was obvious that the recovery that we all wished for, was not going to happen and the doctor suggested that we should be referred to the Shipston Home Nursing group. He said that it was a service for the terminally ill in the last few weeks of their life, and as Sue wanted to die in her own home this would be a means of achieving this goal. She certainly did not want to go to hospital and she wanted me to keep going to work as long as possible. The main co-ordinator came and assessed the situation and took over the day to day organisation of nursing care. This was a great relief as I knew Sue was getting the best possible nursing care at home, and it took away much of the stress at a very stressful family time. I cannot speak too highly about the professionalism of the team of nurses who attended to Sue's needs, and the good thing was they kept me informed of what to expect, and they co-ordinated well with the District nurses and doctors. They were quite prepared to give me a rest by staying overnight if I so wished. I felt that at this most stressful time, they took away much of the worry by attending to Sue without a time criteria and I also felt that they cared about the whole family. Sue died peacefully at home at the end of May 2009 and sadly missed the two weddings.
The Charity is funded by voluntary donations and by people supporting functions locally and this pays for the staffing and running costs. It can only work with the hard work from individuals and the support of the local people often in the simplest of ways. eg. buying Christmas cards, loose change in the charity box, and going to functions. It is not until you experience a situation that you really appreciate what the Charity does. I know our family is greatly indebted to the support that was freely given.
To this end, Andrew, Sue's son, joined a 100km off-road cycle ride called 'The Hell of The North Cotswolds, with 1000 other riders starting from Winchcombe on April 11th 2010. He completed the course in 5hrs 10mins and raised £405 in sponsorship plus a further £114 in Gift aid. The Just Giving website offered the simplest and straightforward way of donating to the SHN. He would like to thank all his donors.
Peter Tuckwell, Ilmington
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