Susannah Hall Tailors Joins Forces with Trinity Hospice
Susannah Hall Tailors has supported Trinity Hospice over the last few years and in April 2013 decided to get more involved by holding an event where clients were invited to bring in their old ill-fitting suits and jackets which would in turn be donated to Trinity Hospice. This was such a success that we have decided to make it an annual event. So if you have any garments to donate during April we will swap them for a £50 gift voucher that you can put towards your next bespoke order, one voucher per person.
Clare, our friend from Trinity Hospice, sent a few wonderful examples of how this particular charity has literally made peoples’ dreams come true at the most crucial time of their lives.
Trinity Hospice is often described as a ‘haven’ by patients and families who have spent time there. The state-of-the-art inpatient centre and award winning gardens in Clapham provide a beautiful setting for Trinity’s expert care. But it’s not the facilities that make Trinity such a special place – it’s the people.
Trinity’s team of nurses, doctors and therapists care for over 2,000 terminally ill Londoners every year, and support their families, friends and carers. Trinity tries to give its patients as much independence, choice and control over their care as possible, and Trinity’s team goes above and beyond to make sure people at Trinity can spend their final days in the way they want.
This has included helping a patient to arrange a last-minute wedding at the hospice so that they could marry their partner. The ceremony was held in a room overlooking Trinity’s gardens and the couple invited their loved ones. Trinity’s nurses persuaded a local florist to donate flowers, and decorated the room to make sure everything was perfect for the big day.
Trinity’s nurses also helped a young patient to fulfill his life’s ambition of flying a plane, just a few days before he passed away. When the team learned of his wish, they looked into making it a reality and found a charity that had experience helping people with medical conditions to fly. A Trinity nurse went with him, not only to the airfield, but also in the plane itself to make sure that he received the care he needed while he realised his ultimate dream.
The team at Trinity have even helped a patient to return to their native Australia to spend their last days. The patient was at an advanced stage of illness, so Trinity’s staff needed to work quickly to ensure their wish could be fulfilled. It was difficult to get the right permissions to allow the patient to fly, but everyone worked tirelessly to cut through the red tape. A Trinity nurse accompanied the patient to Australia to ensure they received the best care on the flight. The patient was delighted to be reunited with family and friends, and was able to achieve their wish of dipping their feet in the Australian ocean before passing away just a few days later.
Trinity understands that acts of kindness like these make such a difference to patients and their loved ones at a difficult and upsetting time. But Trinity cannot continue this incredible work, which is provided completely free of charge, without the support of local people. Trinity is a charity that receives less than a third of its funding from the government. This means it relies on donations to raise over £7 million each year in order to continue its work.