St Barnabas Hospice has been given £1,500 by Freemasons of Lincoln’s Witham Lodge – enough to provide a nurse for almost nine days of ‘hospice at home’ care, looking after people in the security of their own surroundings.
Lodge Master John McGowan said members chose the hospice to receive the money, raised at a social event, because a number had experienced first hand the care provided by the Hospice. He said: “Witham Lodge members think very highly of the work and services that St. Barnabas provides.”
Lodge members generated the funds at a social event through a raffle, auction, and other games.
Deborah Yarwood, Fundraising Officer for St. Barnabas, accepted the donation from John. She said the Hospice needed all the support it could muster. It costs the Hospice about £10m a year to run its services, but that just 22% came from central government. She said: “The care we provide is possible thanks only to the generosity of the local community.” Examples of the costs of running the hospice include a nurse on a Hospice ward for a full day at £237, a day of hospice at home care for £170, or a home visit for a new patient at a cost of £94.