30 years of The Hospice of St Francis

June 1979

The Hospice of St Francis is born following a vigil of prayer at St Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted.

 

A network of ‘Snowball’ coffee mornings raises £25,000 to kickstart the new Hospice.

 

 

July 1980

The first nurse is employed to work alongside Community Nurses caring for the dying at home.

 

1982

The purchase of St Francis House is completed.

 

1983

The Homebox scheme is launched – small boxes kept in private homes to encourage the saving of small change.

 

1984

Day Hospice opens on Tuesdays and Thursdays supporting eight people each day.

 

1986

Eight beds are opened for residential patients.

 

1988

The Bereavement Telephone Helpline and The Pilgrim Group are introduced to support bereaved family members and close friends.

 

February 1999

The first Hospice of St Francis shop opens in Abbots Langley on 27th February 1999 and sets a precedent for more shops in Bovingdon, Highfield in Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Chesham and St Albans.

 

 

1999

The decision is made to build a new Hospice. The search for a suitable site begins.

 

2004

Detailed planning permission is granted.

 

2005

Construction work starts.

 

2006

Topping Out ceremony takes place in June 2006.

 

2007

Day Hospice starts to operate from the new building in January 2007. The newly built Hospice welcomes its first patient in January.

The first Walk with the Stars takes place in June.

The Hospice appoints its first Director of Education, Sarah Russell, reflecting the importance of sharing our knowledge so that patients can experience high quality palliative care wherever they are being cared for. 

2007-2008

Beds 9 to 11 opened.

 

2008

Volunteer numbers rise to over 900.

 

2009

Our team of six Specialist St Francis Nurses support 130 patients at home at any one time. Across all our services we support 700 patients and over 1,000 friends and family members a year. They come from all over our catchment area, from Harpenden to the Chalfonts, Tring to St Albans.

 

Over 2,000 local people now support us by filling their Home Boxes with cash. Many of you also run, walk, play golf, sing, have coffee mornings, all to raise money for our work.   And 900 volunteers give us the precious gift of time. Thank you all for your generosity.

The Supportive Care team’s service now extends to support for carers and families, counselling and therapies, welfare and benefits guidance, spiritual support, and, since 2008, a Volunteer Home Sitting service and specialist support for children. The team supports 280 family and friends at any one time.

 

We have 11 beds open to patients, but for every patient in our Inpatient Unit we support three in the community - at home, in nursing homes, hospitals and other locations. In 2008, our education team trained 1,000 health professionals, helping spread the very special care that is the hallmark of St Francis.

 

Our first shop, nicknamed by locals as the ‘Harrods of Abbots Langley’ has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. We now have seven shops, including Number Twenty.

 

We have also set up an eBay shop, which has so far generated over £50,000 for the Hospice.