St. Modwen Logistics donates £20,000 to Hospice Hope
St. Modwen Industrial & Logistics, the dedicated industrial and logistics division of property developer St. Modwen, has donated £20,000 to North West Leicestershire charity Hospice Hope.
The charity provides pastoral care, including counselling, befriending and support services to those with life limiting conditions such as cancer, Parkinson’s, and Multiple Sclerosis. Its services have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, with self-isolation and social distancing measures preventing its face-to-face support from taking place.
With many of its volunteers and service users self-isolating, the charity took the challenging decision to suspend much of its community-based support until 2021.
To continue helping its vulnerable members, Hospice Hope launched a number of online services including its popular Virtual Support Cafes, an online counselling service that has quickly grown from three sessions per week to 12, and a telephone and online befriending service..
To ensure people can access its online services, the charity is working with third-party organisations to provide equipment such as tablets, Wi-Fi boosters and webcams to those who need additional support.
The charity is also delivering ‘goody bags’ containing items such as books, jigsaw puzzles and knitting wool to keep isolated individuals occupied and allow them to see a friendly face during the socially-distanced delivery.
The £20,000 donation will fund the charity’s counselling and befriending services until the end of 2020 and includes a lending library of equipment for individuals to access its support services remotely.
The grant is part of St. Modwen’s £150,000 Community Impact Fund, created to support grassroots charities and community groups that make a significant impact in their communities.
Stewart Shepherd, Chair of Hospice Hope, said:
“With over 90% of our guests aged over 55, and 62% over 70, our face-to-face services became impossible when lockdown measures were introduced. While we needed to shield and protect the vulnerable and those with life limiting conditions, we also needed to make sure we could prevent them from become isolated, inactive, or distressed. “As a charity, we address the psychological and physical impacts of living with life limiting conditions, and we knew our services had to continue running in an alternative form. Our professionals and volunteers responded quickly to our shift to online, and we have made great progress in getting IT equipment into the hands of those who need it. This generous donation by St. Modwen will guarantee that we can keep running these services until at least the end of the year.”
Ian Romano, Senior Director – Development at St. Modwen Industrial & Logistics, said:
“For us development is not just about delivering buildings, it is about engaging with the community and having an understanding of what is happening on the ground locally. Seeing the work that Hospice Hope does, to support those whose conditions severely impact their quality of life, is incredible. We are honoured to be able to play a small part in keeping this service running at this challenging time.”
Find out more about Hospice Hope and see its regular community engagement videos, here: https://www.hospicehope.org.uk/vids-page/
Find out more about St. Modwen Industrial & Logistics, here: https://stmodwenlogistics.co.uk/