Hospice staff say thank you in supporter thank-a-thon

"Thank you" - two very simple words, but very powerful ones. How many times a day are you thanked for doing something? Thanked by the people you work with? Thanked by friends and family? How many times do you say thank you for something?  

At Saint Francis Hospice, we are constantly thanked for the work that we do. As Supporter Care Manager at the hospice, I am part of the fundraising team and have had the privilege of hearing lovely stories of gratitude from families who have donated in memory of their loved one, from supporters who are grateful for the work of the hospice and its many services. We wanted to take our turn, as a staff team, to say thank you and show our gratitude to our amazing supporters, the people that make all the amazing work of the hospice possible. 

Between 3rd to 7th July, staff and volunteer representatives from the hospice made over 150 hours of calls, reaching out to almost 1,500 of our supporters and simply said thank you. No ask, no catch ??" just thank you. Everyone who supports the hospice, receives thanks for their donations when they make them, but these calls were something special, something unexpected. We wanted our supporters to know that we are as grateful for them, as they are for the hospice.

Those who stepped forward to make these thank you calls included members of our Hospice at Home, Family Support and Occupational Health Teams, Nurses from our ward and representatives from every corner of the hospice. Most people were not used to making calls to our supporters, this was not something in their usual day to day roles.  

It is so important to us that our supporters know how vital they are to keeping our services running. They are the reason that 2,092 people were able to benefit from our services in 2022/23. Without their ongoing support our Hospice at Home team would not have been able to make visits to the 632 people who we cared for in the comfort of their own homes, in 2022/23. 

There were some lovely conversations, reconnections of supporters who haven’t been in touch with the hospice for a long time. But along with all of this, it was humbling for us to come together as one team across the hospice to say thank you. It was a wonderful week, full of positivity and enthusiasm. We will be certain to run another Thank-a-thon in the future, so if you didn’t receive a call this time, hopefully we will be able to speak to you next time.