FOR 25 years, St Luke’s Hospice has played a key role in the communities of Thurrock and Basildon.

And with the Basildon hospice celebrating such an important anniversary, chief executive Eileen Marshall says the main thing she wants to stress is that its work involves a great deal more than caring for people in their dying days.

She explained: “A lot of people hold us in great affection, but my concern is there are an awful lot of people who don’t really understand what the hospice is about and what we provide.

“There are still people who do think it’s about the last few days of life, when actually we can do so much more to help people.

“We are there with people every step of the way – from the point of diagnosis. We can enhance people’s lives so much more.”

During Mrs Marshall’s 13 years at the helm of the in Nethermayne hospice in Basildon, it has been the people which made the hospice such a special place.

She explained: “I keep a quote on my wall which came from a patient – all about how we helped her to live.

“That’s a really important message.

On the bad days, it’s what I look at to remind myself why we do it.”

Supported by an army of staff and volunteers, the hospice cares for patients aged 16-plus through a range of services, including the newly-extended day hospice, the inpatient unit and bereavement support.

St Luke’s also works with local hospitals and healthcare organisations, runs a 24- hour phone line for people in need and complementary therapies, physiotherapy and counselling.

Mrs Marshall said: “It changes so quickly. If you’d asked me two years ago what services we would have running now, my predictions would probably have been be very different to what we’ve got. Technology and the expectations for end-of-life care are very different, so there is a pressure for us to meet patient choice.”

Every patient and every family is special – deserving not of not only the best possible care, but help with organise a graduation ceremony, an anniversary dinner, or even a wedding.

Mrs Marshall said: “Yes, we’ve had weddings, parties and special dinners.

“It’s particularly nice for individuals who don’t think we would do, and then we go that extra mile.

“Day-to-day things affect you and it wouldn’t be right if they didn’t. You do care and it does affect you. You can see the difference you’re making and how it might be if we weren’t doing it.”

As well as the recently-revamped Nethermayne site, St Luke’s now plans to open Thurrock’s first hospice off Lower Dunton Road, Horndonon- the-Hill, so it can help more than the 5,000 or so people a year – patients and their families – it currently does.

That total is a fine achievement, but one, Mrs Marshall stresses, impossible without such an incredible team.

She said: “The things our staff and volunteers do on a daily basis are incredible and actually, quite humbling a lot of the time. “They perform an incredible job with very limited resources to make such a huge difference.

I’m very proud of them and feel humbled to work alongside them.

“The 25th year is special, but we do need to think of the future. We really need people to keep supporting us.We desperately need their help if we’re going to do the things we need to do.”

! To support the hospice and celebrate its 25th anniversary visit stlukeshospice.com