User:StAndrew'sHospice/sandbox

''St Andrews Hospice cares for people of all ages with life limiting illnesses in North and North East Lincolnshire, the wider Lincolnshire county and Hull and the East Riding. It also offers help and support to patients' families. Care is free at the point of delivery.''

Background

The second half of the twentieth century was marked by a breath-taking pace of change in nearly every aspect of life - social, ethnological, economic and political. As part of that change, the development of the modern hospice movement was a distinctive feature.

St Andrew's Hospice in Grimsby has played an essential part in all this and in a movement which has its origins as far back as the 4th Century, when religious orders offered expressions of Christian hospitality and care to travellers and to the sick.

While the modern hospice movement has come a long way from those origins, the features of Christian 'hospitality and care' have endured and are deeply embedded in the life of St Andrew's.

The hospices in the UK have stayed firmly within the voluntary sector. Their funding through the generosity of local people has enabled communities to invest in the dignity of those with life limiting illness and, in a very real way, the history of St Andrew's Hospice is a reflection of the generosity of the people of North East Lincolnshire and beyond.

The hospice has been, and continues to be, blessed by gifted individuals who, working as a team, have raised the funds, overcome the challenges and created a centre of hospitality and care of which the community can be proud.

The late 1960s and 1970s saw a rapid increase in the number of Independent Hospices opened in the UK.

They were inspired by Dame Cicely Saunders, who had founded St Christopher's Hospice in London in 1967, and encouraged a radical new approach to end-of-life care.

In 1978, the idea of establishing a hospice in the Grimsby area first canvassed. A series of gatherings culminated in a meeting held at Scartho Road Hospital on 19th July 1979 when 70 people were present, and the decision was taken to establish a Charity to be known as St Andrew's Hospice. A Trust Deed was drafted and signed in December 1979, and St Andrew's Hospice was registered as a charity early in 1980.

Early beginnings

On 26th January, 1980, the first Day Centre was opened at the Molson Centre in Kent Street, Grimsby. In May 1981, a fundraising campaign was started and the search began for suitable premises.

Late in 1983, Beech Farm House in Waltham Road, Scartho, came onto the market. By this time the hospice's funds had risen to more than £50,000, and in February 1984 "The Beeches" was purchased and an extensive conversion programme commenced, alongside a period of increased fundraising activity. The idea was to open the hospice as a Day Centre only in the first instance.

The Beeches opened its doors on 14th October 1984 with the formal opening by Lord & Lady Yarborough.

The following year, the first hospice charity shop was opened in Grimsby and by the beginning of 1986, it was clear that there was an ever increasing need for in-patient facilities at The Beeches, and plans for in-patient rooms were prepared and approved.

The new facility welcomed its first patients on 12th December 1986. The advent of in-patient care increased the annual running costs from £18,000 to £150,000 overnight!

In 1988, a second hospice shop was opened in Cambridge Street, Cleethorpes. The Grimsby Gazette on its front page dated 12th May 1988 reported that "St Andrews Hospice in Grimsby has raised an amazing £150,000 in the last year, an increase of 238% of any previous year's income!

By 1992, available space at The Beeches was stretched to breaking point and both the office and reception facilities were deemed to be not fit for purpose. One option appeared to be to acquire another site in the Grimsby/Cleethorpes area and provide a purpose-built Hospice. In May 1993, the Hospice made an offer of £150,000 to purchase a site in Peaks Lane, which was accepted. Final plans for converting the Peaks Lane property were approved.

'''Peaks Lane '''

On November 30th 1995, BBC Newscaster Martyn Lewis officially opened the new Peaks Lane facility.

By 1998, there was increasing interest in the development of a Children's Hospice Unit, and by November it had been agreed in principle that a Children's Hospice should be built. In March 2000, BBC Radio Humberside launched a major appeal for the Children's Hospice, which was to open on 5th March with its official title of St Andrew's Hospice - Child and Adolescent Unit.

The unit was registered at the outset for four in-patients and four day patients, with the initial intention of providing respite care from Monday to Friday each week. News from Radio Humberside was encouraging, with their Appeal Funds then approaching the £200,000 target!

On 11th May, 1999, Helen Thomas and her colleagues from BBC Radio Humberside presented a cheque for £220,341 from their Children's Hospice Appeal.

In 2000, Mr and Mrs Trotter left the hospice the former Post Office in Pinfold Lane, Scartho, and in 2001 it opened as a hospice ladies clothes shop called "Second Gear".

In 2001, actress Julie Peasgood took part in the Christmas edition of "Celebrity Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and raised £16,000 for the hospice.

Further developments included taking over a tea bar at Hull Magistrates' Court in 2002, and at the Grimsby court the following year. The hospice also began operating lymphoedema clinics at The Pink Rose Suite, in Grimsby Hospital and the Pilgrim Health Centre in Immingham.

More hospice shops opened in the area, as well as a third tea bar in Immingham.

In 2014, building work began at Peaks Lane to construct a new hospice. The current building - a former social club - was becoming unfit for purpose, and the £6.5 million rebuild project began.