My Dear Team, Volunteers, Partners and Supporters of Kilbryde.

As you are aware, our hospice made the decision to join forces with South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership in March to support the care of COVID-19 patients during what was a critical time.

As University Hospital Hairmyres now has the overall bed capacity to cope with the current demands of COVID-19, we have begun the transition process of returning the hospice back to business as usual, within the boundaries of COVID-19 guidance, from Monday 4 May. This in no way implies that the fight over COVID-19 is complete and we must continue to adhere to Government advice and guidance.

Every Thursday night at 8pm I have stood on my doorstep and clapped. I have been clapping for my committed staff team, volunteers and our health and social care partners across our communities in the joint effort to keep the people of our communities safe and well as best we can.

The work carried out by all our partners over the last number of weeks has been nothing short of amazing. No one has been untouched by this situation. At times as a hospice we have worked through challenging and difficult decisions, however, at the same time we have created new ways of working, delivered great change and developed great partnerships. None more so than with our colleagues at University Hospital Hairmyres.

I have seen at first hand the fantastic support that our hospice wellbeing team have given to 130 staff from both Kilbryde and University Hospital Hairmyres over the last 5 weeks. I had the honour of joining Willie MacLean, one of our hospice Chaplains, to deliver a short service on Good Friday that brought over 30 staff together in prayer. I could not help but think that Good Friday was even more significant at this time of crisis. It was a profound opportunity for us to remind ourselves of our calling and reawaken our commitment to the caring ministry during what is unprecedented times. It also reminded us that during these difficult times there are some testing days ahead. But from all of this Kilbryde Hospice will rise again to become an even more wonderful and vital part of our community.

As I highlighted in my update earlier this month, I promise to fight tooth and nail to protect Kilbryde Hospice and make it the best once again. This is by no means an easy task due to the lack of fundraising and retail income coming into the hospice over the past few months. Events that were intended to raise much needed funds have been put on hold or postponed as a result of the virus, with our shops not looking to open any time soon.

As a community, we are extremely good at rallying round one another when times are difficult. Now is the time to rally round as a community and make a difference to your hospice. We need to keep money coming in so that people are still able to rely on Kilbryde to care for our loved ones through some of the toughest times in their lives, now and in the future.

We do not all have to do wonderful things. If we can all do small things, together we will do great things.

Please donate whatever you can afford to help keep some money coming into the hospice. Even if it’s the cost of your daily coffee whilst normally on your way to work, donate that amount now that you are working from home! If you normally spend £5 on lunch every now and again, donate it and have lunch at home!

You can do this by simply texting HOSPICE to 70144 to make a one-off donation of £5. You can also make donations through cheque, bank transfer, credit card and Paypal with all the information available at www.kibrydehospice.org.uk or indeed through Facebook and our many other social media channels. You can also call our team on 01355 202020.

Chief Executive