THE daughters of a man cared for by Prospect Hospice are urging people to support the charity’s Thanks a Million summer raffle.
Chris Marlow received care at the hospice in Wroughton and also by its specialist team of nursing staff at his home. Chris died at home in West Swindon, surrounded by his family on 13 March 2021, aged 63.
Chris helped support Prospect Hospice’s raffle in 2020 by writing a letter to the charity’s supporters, and his daughters, Sam and Zoe Marlow wanted to carry on his legacy by endorsing this year’s summer raffle.
The raffle continues the hospice’s Thanks a Million campaign which aims to raise £1million to cover the funding gap left as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In their letter to the charity’s supporters, Sam and Zoe talk about how the hospice supported them as a family.
They said:
“We each deal with situations in life differently, and the hospice adapted to both of our needs, rather than offering a ‘one size fits all’ approach. We knew this was how they were working with dad, ensuring his care was personalised and tailored to his wants and needs, but we were surprised and reassured when they did the same for the care they gave us as his family.
“Like many people, we were nervous when dad said he was going to the hospice. Before then, we’d always been a little uncertain of the hospice. To us, it was a place of sadness. How wrong could we have been?
“Dad absolutely loved it there. He was very open with us about the care he was receiving and spoke so highly of everyone. He opened our eyes to all the services that were available and taught us so much about hospice care.
“From the first time we met everyone at the hospice, the care was consistent. Right throughout the pandemic, despite everything, dad’s care and support continued, and so did ours, they were always there for us.
“The hospice was with dad to the very end, and we can’t thank them enough for the support they gave to him and us throughout that time. While dad may now be gone and we are learning to live without him, his legacy lives on. We’ve pledged to make dad’s final wish to raise more money a priority for us, and we hope that you can too.
“Prospect Hospice is an amazing local community charity that has meant so much to our family. By buying some raffle tickets, you are helping to support their work, so they can continue to care for all the patients and families like ours that need them so badly when facing such a difficult time.
“The hospice is still working hard on their Thanks a Million campaign which aims to raise enough to cover the £1million funding gap they foresee for 2021 caused as a result of COVID-19. So please help us to make this raffle the biggest ever – our dad would have been so proud.”
Tickets for the raffle cost £1 each, and the first prize is £2,000. Other prizes are £500 for second place, £250 for third, plus five prizes of £50.
Tickets can be bought online at www.prospect-hospice.net/raffle, and entries close on 23 September 2021. They can also be bought in Prospect Hospice’s charity shops from this week.
