City Hospice, Cardiff’s local hospice, received a royal visit from The Prince of Wales as part of his Christmas visit to Wales in his 70th year.
After arriving at Cardiff Central via steam train, His Royal Highness visited City Hospice to meet patients and families as well as staff and volunteers.
Formerly George Thomas Hospice Care, we offer counselling (to adults and children), welfare benefits advice and day centres offering a range of activities. We are the only at-home palliative care provider for the city of Cardiff and need to raise more than £2million every year to keep providing these specialist services.
The Prince of Wales has been Patron of City Hospice since 1998 and during his visit he met with volunteers including Jim Goodwin (Head Volunteer Gardener), Edith Clarke (Counselling Volunteer), and Susan Davies (Volunteer Reflexologist). He met the counselling team, our amazing nurses and some of our patients and families who were so pleased to be a part of the visit.
He also met Luan and her children Lara and Connor. Luan lost her husband to cancer earlier this year and the counselling and bereavement team has supported the family ever since.
Tony Foster, husband to Luan and father to Lara (age 11) and Connor (age 13), sadly died from Melanoma earlier this year. The family started going to see Sarah Bull, Head of Counselling and Bereavement, last year to help them to cope with the sadness of losing Tony. Luan said that the support they’ve received has been incredible. “Even visiting City Hospice, when you hear the word ‘hospice’, I wasn’t sure what to expect the first time we came. It’s not what you expect because it’s a warm, safe place to be. The children have amazed me at how strong they’ve been and how incredible they are. We couldn’t have done it without Sarah.”
Lara and Connor presented His Royal Highness with Christmas baubles they made and City Hospice Counsellor, Jayne Blenkin, presented him with a watercolour painting she’d done of the hospice gardens. The Prince also presented our Occupational Therapist with a working in partnership award from Cardiff and Vale Health Board.
Liz Andrews, Chief Executive of City Hospice, would like to thank The Prince of Wales and Clarence House for the visit. “We were thrilled to welcome His Royal Highness to the hospice to showcase the vital work we do and how we support patients and families across Cardiff. It was such a special time for our patients, families, volunteers and supporters so a big thank you for making that happen.”
