Marie Curie Not for Profit Donation

Marie Curie is a charity very close to my heart having lost both of my parents to cancer. My Mum was a patient at the Marie Curie hospice at Stobhill Glasgow last year and we really could not have coped without their wonderful care and support, not just for Mum, but for the whole family. The hospice operates a ward for terminal patients and for those needing respite or longer term care. It also has a fantastic Day Centre for those who are well enough to stay at home, but who want to spend quality time with other patients, therapists and nurses who really understand what they are going through. The Day Centre offers specialists therapies, Thai chi, meditation, craft classes, talks from guest speakers and various fun activities.
There is also a bank of volunteers who offer a taxi service to and from the patients home. All of this, plus lunch for free! Mum loved the Day Centre, her time there was filled with laughter and fun and she learned new things at the age of 74, such as making her own jewellery, Thai Chi and relaxation techniques and more importantly she made a lot of new friends that she could confide in.

It costs an unbelievable £12,000 per day to run just 1 Marie Curie hospice and there are nowhere near enough beds to cope with the demand from terminal patients requiring specialist care and pain management – we were very lucky.

Thanks to Esteem I was able to give something back to Marie Curie this month through our Not For Profit Scheme. I’m the one not in nurses uniform in the photo! We were able to provide the day centre with 15 swivel cushions for the volunteer drivers cars – to assist frail patients getting in and out. We also donated 5 portable CD players for the many well used therapy rooms. I am fully inspired by Esteem’s NFP scheme and intend to work even harder this year to provide more support for such an important charity…watch this space……

www.mariecurie.org.uk