Staff and doctors at The Meriden Hospital, part of Circle Health Group have raised £937 for Myton Hospices to aid their work supporting individuals with life-limiting illnesses.

The Myton Hospices have launched an urgent appeal to raise £240,000 as demand for the beds has increased by 11% in the last 12 months alone.

The Myton Hospices are the only provider of hospice inpatient beds in Coventry and Warwickshire supporting thousands of patients and their families each year from the point of diagnosis to end of life. The organisation’s services have been under immense strain as the hospice as seen demand for beds alone increase by 11% in the last 12 months.

To keep pace with demand, an urgent appeal has been launched to raise £240,000. The appeal aims to raise enough to pay for the recruitment, training and salaries for five registered nurses for a year. As a charity, only 20% of the organisation’s funding comes from the NHS, almost all the services and staff provided by the charity has to be supported by fundraising. As a fellow healthcare organisation, The Meriden Hospital decided to support the appeal and began fundraising to support the cause. Across several events, staff and doctors found creative ways to back the cause. From bake sales to an ambitious John O’Groats to Lands’ End Bike challenge, The Meriden Hospital raised £937 for the hospice appeal.

The management team at The Meriden Hospital present The Myton Hospice with their cheque.

placeholder image — The management team at The Meriden Hospital present The Myton Hospice with their cheque.

To show their ongoing commitment to the charity and wider community, a formal cheque presentation took place on Wednesday 11th December with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress in attendance to lend their support to the appeal.

Karen Pattison, Executive Director of The Meriden Hospital, said: “The Myton Hospices play a vital role in our community, offering a lifeline to patients and families at what is an extremely difficult time. As a fellow healthcare provider, we know first hand the difference they make. It’s been an honour to support their appeal and play our part in supporting their efforts.”

Chris Willmott, Partnerships Manager at The Myton Hospices, said: “We are so very grateful to everyone at The Meriden Hospital and to Circle Health Group for their amazing support of our urgent appeal. When we reached out as part of our appeal, the team were so quick to support us and arranged a week of fabulous activities at the hospital and a business donation too. “A huge thank you to everyone who supported at a time we’ve never needed the support more – on behalf of everyone at Myton, but, most importantly, on behalf of our patients and their loved ones whose lives you make such a difference to.”

Chris added: “We are delighted to share that, three months to the day from the launch of our Urgent Appeal, we have not only reached but smashed our target of £240,000 to support five new nurses and care for more people. This is amazing achievement would not have been possible without the wonderful support of our communities and businesses – including The Meriden Hospital.”