Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity Moves Office
Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity’s (FNHC) Fundraising and office functions have taken up residence in new surroundings at Walton Lodge, Walton Street, Aylesbury, with the aim of providing an innovative specialist palliative care education facility as part of the move – thanks to a supporter legacy.
Taking up part of the building with a small team of staff and an ever-growing team of volunteers who support the day-to-day running of the Charity, it has been a priority of Sue Jenkins, FNHC Executive Director, to find a suitable relocation site for quite some time – without heavy investment: “Our current location on Chamberlain Road has served us well, but with the cost of service provision and demand for Hospice services on the rise, we need to ensure we put ourselves in the best location possible so as to continue to provide vital funding in the future to ensure Hospice services remain available on our doorstep. The Charity’s financial commitment to the Hospice has grown over the years as the need for local Hospice services increases year-on-year, and with a growing bank of volunteers who we are fortunate to have supporting our work in fundraising, events, communication and marketing, it has been paramount to find alternative premises to enable us to continue to utilise their skills and expertise, plus continue the Charity’s commitment to fund in-patient and at-home services into the future.
“We have secured excellent terms on the new office, which has been vacant for five years – thanks to a local landlord who is very supportive of the Hospice and the Charity’s work – allowing us to extract the maximum value for money possible for a town centre location. Moving our charity office will mean closer proximity to the Florence Nightingale Hospice in Stoke Mandeville and allow us greater access to our supporters. We will also be on the doorstep of local politicians we need to lobby, along with local businesses we aspire to work with through our Corporate Companion Scheme.”
As part of the move, plans are underway to provide a first class specialist palliative care educational facility on site within the next few months. This has been a vision of not only the Charity team, but also palliative care leaders at the Hospice; to be able to provide specialist training and education locally for those individuals wishing to work in Hospice care: “We’re only able to offer this fantastic facility due to a supporter legacy courtesy of Mr George Osborne, for which we are sincerely grateful,” said Sue. “We hope this legacy will enable us to support the provision of palliative care education to all healthcare professionals, and in turn, give our community something to be extremely proud of.”
The Charity’s Furniture Warehouse will remain open in Chamberlain Road, Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm, with plans to maximise the extra floor space for additional sales activity.
The Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity needs to raise over £600,000 this year to keep local in-patient and at-home services running for families affected by life-limiting illness across Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and parts of Oxfordshire.
To find out more visit www.fnhospice.org.uk