supporter stories

Gill’s Story

December 20, 2023Blog Hospice Stories Volunteering

Gill recently gave two days of volunteering in our Bramley Retail Hub through her workplace, Co-Operative Bank. She shares her experience:

“I’m Gill from the Co-Operative Bank and I recently swapped my day job in recruitment and volunteered at St Gemma’s Hospice’s Retail Hub in Bramley, Leeds for two days.

The St Gemma’s Retail Hub sorts donated items ready to be distributed amongst their 25 charity shops across West Yorkshire or sold on eBay or other online channels.

On arrival, l had a warm welcome and an enlightening tour of the Hub from ecommerce manager, Cherie. There is an eBay team who sift through potentially valuable items that they think they may be able to list and re-sell to maximise the amount a donation makes towards patient care – such as various collectible items of bric a brac, jewellery, furniture, designer clothing and electricals.

Then there are team members who sell items on other ecommerce platforms, coordinate St Gemma’s Christmas cards, sift through general bric-a-brac and who sort through items of clothing generously donated by Joe Browns to support the Hospice. There are also PAT testers to ensure the safety of electrical items including Christmas trees, stereos, gaming consoles etc., that are intended for resale. It really is an interesting place and a hive of activity!

I was then introduced to Dave, Andrew and Steve who are regular and dedicated volunteers on the book team and whom I worked with for two days. I really enjoyed working with these guys, plus they fuelled my productivity with a constant flow of tea which was good.

A continual stream of books is donated daily by the public, often surpassing what can be stored and sold in St Gemma’s charity shops, so lots of the books are sold via online platforms.

I was tasked with scanning or typing in the ISBN code on the back of each book. We also looked out for any books that appeared potentially valuable; these were passed over to eBay Team for them to research and list on eBay. The eBay team are currently listing a donated copy of The Hobbit from 1959!

I scanned a grand total of 1461 books – it was quite addictive!

The two days went really fast and I really enjoyed myself. If anybody is looking to volunteer in Yorkshire, I would highly recommend spending time at St Gemma’s. They are a fantastic team of hardworking and friendly individuals, who are dedicated to making a meaningful impact and will always welcome volunteers.”

If your workplace offers volunteering hours, come and spend them with us! Pop our team an email on corporate.volunteering@st-gemma.co.uk to get started.

Sue & Tony’s Story

August 16, 2023Blog Hospice Stories Patient Stories

My name is Sue and this is the story about my brother Tony Kenny who died at St Gemma’s in March 2022. He was 60.

My brother Tony was really good company and well-liked by everyone he knew. He was funny, a bit of a daredevil, and never took himself too seriously. A few years ago, before he became poorly he raised money for Alzheimer’s Society by taking part in a memory walk and doing a skydive.

Like siblings do, there were times when we were busy with our own lives so didn’t see each other much but during the last few years we have been very close and spent lots of time together. We lost our mum when we were quite young, she actually died in St Gemma’s in 1989. Our dad also had a stay at St Gemma’s for symptom management in 1994, and I hadn’t been back since then. A lot has changed at the Hospice over the last 30 years!

My brother Tony first started getting ill in December 2019 when he had a serious heart attack. He had two stents fitted then and later had a pacemaker/defibrillator put in place. The cardiologist diagnosed him with heart failure, but said that his heart was reasonably stable.

At the beginning of 2020, he spent several weeks in hospital; we believed he contracted Covid during that time, he was very poorly. Thankfully he recovered and came back home.

In April 2020, Tony was referred to the transplant unit in Newcastle for a possible heart transplant but to our great surprise the surgeon said his heart was not in a bad enough condition to have a transplant at that stage.

Later in 2020, Tony was very unwell again. He had an autoimmune response called membranous nephropathy where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells in the kidneys and as a result his kidneys failed and he had to commence dialysis three times per week. At one point he was taken into intensive care, that was a very scary time for us all.

With three separate diagnoses of heart failure, kidney failure and rheumatoid arthritis life was very tough for Tony but he dealt with everything that was thrown at him. In summer 2021 Tony was referred to St Gemma’s for palliative care. We were allocated a community nurse, Lizzie, who would come round to administer pain relief and help Tony manage his symptoms. Lynne, Tony’s wife and my sister-in-law could also call Lizzie when she had questions or needed advice. It was a real lifeline for her, knowing that their community nurse was just at the end of the phone. We also benefitted from the expertise of St Gemma’s palliative care doctor, Dr Ward. He helped to liaise with the care team at St James’s hospital.

Tony was very unwell in his last year of life. He was getting severe abdominal pain, and was also being very sick. There were days when his wife Lynne struggled to get him to and from the dialysis unit because he was in so much pain. It was very difficult to see him that way.

Lynne got in touch with Lizzie from St Gemma’s as Tony was adamant he didn’t want to die in hospital… the team pulled out the stops to admit him.

It was tough when he was so ill to see any positivity, but looking back now, there were some good times. The four of us spent time together in the Yorkshire Dales where we have a holiday lodge and when Tony turned 60 in October 2021 we managed to go out for a lovely family lunch. I found a photo the other day of the party which made me smile. We also had a nice time for his last Christmas. Tony and Lynne were meant to come around to our house but my husband Tom got Covid, so we delayed it until New Year’s Day; that was a lovely day and we were very grateful to have that time together.

By March 2022, his stomach pains and sickness had reached crisis point. He was taken to A&E by ambulance early morning and Lynne and I were called to the hospital. He was in so much agony and we were fearful that he would die there in the bay at St James’s. The doctors sent him for an abdominal scan, but they warned us that he was in such a bad condition he may not survive the scan as his organs were shutting down. We were told he probably had hours rather than days.

Lynne got in touch with Lizzie from St Gemma’s as Tony was adamant he didn’t want to die in hospital. The consultant on the ward also contacted St Gemma’s to see if he could be admitted. There weren’t meant to be any new admissions to the In-Patient Unit that weekend, but he desperately needed pain relief, so the team pulled out the stops to admit him.

I remember that ambulance journey to St Gemma’s, with the blue lights flashing, Lynne with him as he screamed in pain and us following in the car. Thankfully he made it there.

As soon as we arrived, the team were fabulous with us. We were admitted to a private room on the Moors ward, and Tony was made a comfortable as possible. They fitted him with a syringe driver and he finally had some relief from the terrible pain he’d been suffering.

In those last few hours we finally found a sense of calm, after the horrors of the past few days. Tony was going, but it was far more peaceful than dying in A&E or an ambulance. We talked a bit about the holidays we’d had; Tom and I used to go away with Tony and Lynne after I retired. We’d had some good trips on a narrowboat, to Northumberland, Alicante and also a lovely holiday to Portugal.

I will be eternally grateful to St Gemma’s for the help and support they gave to my family: to my mum and dad all those years ago, and for Tony as well. The support from the Hospice didn’t stop once Tony died either – both my sister-in-law and I have received counselling from St Gemma’s bereavement service.

Graham’s Story

May 23, 2023Blog Hospice Stories Volunteering

Graham Bennett and his wife Denise Bennett have kindly given their time to support St Gemma’s for many years, using their specialist knowledge of classical music to raise funds in the community for patient care at St Gemma’s. This is their story.

Graham has had a life-long passion for classical music. He opened the Classical Record Shop in Leeds in 1968, running the business for 30+ years. He also founded Sinfonia of Leeds chamber orchestra in 1973 and conducted it for the next 17 years.

Once he retired, Graham started to volunteer for St Gemma’s Hospice at the Street Lane shop. He concentrated on the music, CDs, books and sheet music. One day he had a call from the St Gemma’s Retail Hub in Bramley, as they had found several bags of classical CDs and they understood he might know a bit about these and the best way to sell them.

Graham and his wife Denise went to talk to the Head of Retail with an idea for Graham and Denise to reach out to their music contacts within the Leeds area, to explore possible opportunities to set up a classical CD pop-up shop.

“To date we have raised £12,120.”

Graham explains:

“Our original goal was to raise as much money as we could selling this impressive donation of classical CDs for St Gemma’s. However, we soon realised that the audience were very appreciative of the CDs we were bringing to the concerts and that all the money was going to their local hospice St Gemma’s. We were then very fortunate to be offered the late Lord Harwood’s CD collection to continue our fund raising for St Gemma’s.

“With the success of the pop-up shop, we then had a chat with Jane Kent and Jason the warehouse manager to formulate a possible opportunity to carry on the pop-up shop for as long as we could… Jason has been brilliant arranging the collection of CDs to the Hub so we can sort through them at the warehouse.

“We couldn’t have achieved what we have to date without the amazing support of the following music societies including, Leeds International Concert Season, Leeds Baroque and Leeds Lieder and their supporters and audiences. To date we have raised £12,120.”

If you have classical CDs or DVDs you could donate to support Graham and Denise’s pop-up shops, please contact the St Gemma’s Retail Hub on 0113 2362547 or drop them off at 54 Waterloo Lane, Bramley, Leeds LS13 2EL.

Virtual Open Gardens

May 19, 2020Blog Fundraising

Summer is here and for the green fingered that means only one thing… gardening!

Every year, St Gemma’s supporters and keen gardeners across Leeds and the surrounding area (and, occasionally, further afield!) open their gardens to the public for our ‘Open Gardens’ event. Open Gardens is a fantastic opportunity to peek into spaces that are usually private and pick up plenty of inspiration.

For 2020, we are delighted to still offer you that same chance in our Virtual Open Gardens, where you can explore a variety of green spaces in the videos below.

The St Gemma’s Hospice Gardens

If you love beautiful outdoor spaces, then the St Gemma’s garden is a must for you. Whilst the award winning gardens at the hospice may be closed just now, you can still admire their beauty by taking a virtual tour of the grounds.

https://youtu.be/9Tdcw3COhWA

They are a haven of peace for both patients and visitors and sit at the very heart of the hospice.

The gardens include favourite features such as the woodland area, Mediterranean garden, the rill, labyrinth, Walls of Light, Path of Life garden and a raised alpine bed. In the virtual tour, you can take a peek in to the gardener’s greenhouse to see what is currently being grown. You can also see the lilac tree which was planted on the 12^th June to celebrate International Nurses Day and to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. Enjoy!

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Janet & David’s Garden

Welcome to our garden, it’s a garden where the borders are the main feature along with the view.

We have kept the garden simple and easy to maintain, nothing complicated just easy maintenance and a pleasure to admire when in full bloom. We hope you enjoy your stroll through our garden!

https://youtu.be/0ympdfn2CyY

Michael & Julia’s Garden

Our garden has been developed over the last 35 years which includes construction of a large terrace with stairs and a rockery leading down into the garden, which is quite sheltered.

We have created a few seating areas to enjoy different views of the garden, two of these being by the pond. We grow bedding plants which we plant in between the many shrubs.

We are developing a fern garden by the pond and we will be planting out the many dahlias at the end of May. There is something for every season in the garden. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/XOw_kEY5OaM

Cheryl’s Garden

My garden is very important to me it brings me so much pleasure and also makes people smile when they walk by. Many stop to ask me about the flowers I have, most I have grown from seed with many different ones that you can’t buy in garden centres.

I have created colour on either side of the driveway which I start planning in January before sowing them in February. I love quirky containers to grow plants in especially wooden clogs! Since I began entering Leeds in Bloom I have won a Gold award each year and also open my garden to friends and neighbours in support of St Gemma’s Hospice where I’m also fortunate to work. My garden lifts my mood, I love watching seeds grow and seeing the final product – it’s so much cheaper too! Have a go, it’s so much fun!

https://youtu.be/CBuUkcB56Nk

Louise & David’s Garden

The garden was just lawn when we moved in 2003. We ordered 5 trailer loads of rotted horse muck and started digging the beds. We have used traditional perennials with the centre piece being the cherry tree.

When we started planting the beds we were inundated with rabbits from the field next door and they ate rather too many plants, so we had to fence them all off. As you will see in the video the plants made a full recovery. The rabbits are still here but the damage they do is quite limited and it’s nice to see them hopping about.

https://youtu.be/2YxApM2BkaA

Gary & Lynn’s Garden

Gary and Lynn moved into their new house two years ago and have worked hard to transform what was once an overgrown and neglected outdoor space.

With the addition of new hardscaped features, including fences and walls to provide structure and partitions, as well as an array of new plants, they have begun to create a multi-functional space that works for the whole family.

https://youtu.be/YfrVYBV3VHw

Sue’s Garden

Sue takes us around her front and back gardens, showing us her well-kept borders and flowerbeds that are full of different colours and textures. The inclusion of tall trees and bushes alongside shorter bedding plants ensures interest at all eye levels, and well-placed bird feeders and a bird bath keeps the garden wildlife friendly.

https://youtu.be/vWwmkqOHp9g

Janet & Carl’s Garden

Our garden is an on-going project of development and renovation. Having purchased our home in October 2013, we were faced with a very overgrown garden dominated by huge Leylandii trees which completely overshadowed the potential.

Over the following years, we have carefully tried to renovate and improve the features re-using and re-cycling the materials that were literally beneath our feet! As complete amateurs, it has been so enjoyable to ‘learn on the job’ about the plants and wildlife around us and hopefully bring back some of the gardens beauty to life for family and friends to enjoy.

Indeed, some of the new additions have come from the plant sales at St Gemma’s Hospice, so we’re very much looking forward to seeing them grow and blossom. Hope you enjoy x

https://youtu.be/_C6DGnPE3Ek

Phil & Marie’s Garden

Phil guides you round his and Marie’s garden, showing how they have created multiple zones to make the best use of both the space and where the light falls at different times of the day.

With clever use of features such as mirrors to give the illusion of more space and the inclusion of trees to draw the eye up whilst also giving more privacy, this is a lovely garden that can be enjoyed at all times of the day.

https://youtu.be/6rBLmS1iF_8

Ken’s Garden

In this video Ken from Warrington shows us around his well-established garden and describes some of the more unusual features he has incorporated such as a woodland area and a stream that was opened by the Mayor of Warrington back in 2001. Ken used to open his garden to the public for various charities and is pleased to be able to welcome visitors back virtually for 2020.

https://youtu.be/1jXc4saseDk

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Sita’s Story

October 18, 2019

Sita’s husband, Calvin was cared for at home by the St Gemma’s community team during his illness. Sita shares her story: “Calvin was ill for two and a half years with pleural mesothelioma (asbestos-related lung cancer). He died at home in January this year (2019). Most people think hospice care is delivered in a […]

Karen’s Story

October 8, 2019

Karen’s mum, Carole was cared for at St Gemma’s in her final days. Karen shares her story: “St Gemma’s is a truly amazing place. I cannot say enough about how fantastic you all are, from the receptionists to the canteen staff to the nurses, the bereavement counsellors; every single person I encountered was compassionate, […]