Coleg Gwent Supports St David’s Hospice Care as Charity of the Year

After one of the toughest years we can remember, with COVID affecting each and every one of us in some way, Coleg Gwent are very excited to announce that they’ve decided to support a Charity of the Year – St David’s Hospice Care. Charities like St David’s Hospice Care have been hit hard by coronavirus, but throughout the pandemic, they’ve continued to provide their vital services and support to families who need it most, and Coleg Gwent wants to help them continue doing this.

St David’s Hospice Care provides bespoke, free, palliative care to patients and their families throughout Newport, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Torfaen and South and Mid Powys, who are suffering from life-threatening illnesses. The charity has grown to become the UK’s largest provider of hospice at home care, looking after over 3,200 patients and families every year and supporting them at the most difficult time in their lives. They offer 24-hour and on-call care at home, at their day hospices, and in hospital, as well as providing advice, family support, bereavement support, complementary therapies, chaplaincy services, and educational resources too.

To make their free services available to patients and their families when they need it most, St David’s Hospice Care needs to raise £9 million pounds every year, with just a small percentage given by local Government. So, Coleg Gwent hopes to help them achieve this goal in 2021.

Kris Broome, Director of Fundraising at St David’s Hospice Care said; “We’re delighted to have been nominated as Charity of the Year for Coleg Gwent. We’ve had a great working relationship for many years, and we hope to continue this long into the future. Our various free services are very well received within the community and have been since our inception back in 1979. However, we do have a huge fundraising challenge on our hands in order to keep up with the demand for our services. Being Charity of the Year always helps with our fundraising income, but we need the staff and students to engage with our fundraising events and ideas. A major part of our work is to help promote the work of the charity, explaining about the many services that we provide. What better place to start than Coleg Gwent.”

Coleg Gwent has chosen St David’s Hospice Care as their Charity of the Year for 2021 because:

1. As a college, they offer a range of Health and Care courses, and are proud to educate the healthcare providers of the future who might go on to work at a hospice like St David’s
2. The college is passionate about raising the profile of hospice care among the younger generation of learners who might not know about the wonderful services that hospices provide
3. Coleg Gwent wants to give back to their community in a real and tangible way, by supporting a local charity that serves the community and grew to meet the needs of local people
4. As an organisation that’s central to its communities, Coleg Gwent hopes to set an example by taking their Corporate Social Responsibility seriously and making a difference where they can
5. It’s been a difficult 12 months for all charities, but the college recognise that palliative hospice care has carried on quietly in the background despite the pandemic, fighting against even more challenges than usual
6. The hospice’s vital fundraising events had to be cancelled and put on hold due to COVID restrictions, and coronavirus rules changed the way they could work as their day hospices had to temporarily close.