Myton Hospice celebrates 40 years of caring for people across Warwickshire

Warwick Myton Hospice opened its doors in September 1982 and since then Myton has cared for more than 20,000 people across Coventry and Warwickshire.

They have the only Hospice Inpatient Units in the region, as well as a range of outpatient and community services.

The number of patients and families they have supported has continued to grow over the years, as have the range of services that they offer.

Here are a few of the key milestones of the last 40 years:

~ 1982 Myton Hamlet Hospice opens its doors to its first patients and was officially opened by Princess Michael of Kent

~ 1986 Princess Diana visits the hospice and is shown around by Dr Henderson; one of the first doctors to work at Myton

~ 2002 Rugby Myton Hospice, on the grounds of St Cross Hospital, is opened by Ann Duchess of Norfolk OBE

~ 2009 Coventry Myton Hospice opens its doors to its first patients after raising £7 million to fund the new facility

~ 2014 Warwick and Leamington MP Chris White officially opened the relative’s accommodation at Warwick Myton Hospice

~ 2017 The new Coffee Shop at Coventry Myton Hospice was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Coventry, Lindsley Harvard and is run by volunteers

~ 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic saw Myton work with the NHS to temporarily hand over Warwick Myton Hospice to South Warwickshire Foundation Trust and offer a number of services remotely

~ 2022 Rugby Myton Support Hub opened to offer support to anyone aged 18 years and over who is living with or caring for someone with a life limiting illness

As Myton looks to the future it says it wants to ensure that everyone who needs their services is able to access them and they want to reach out to people earlier in their illness, to be alongside them from diagnosis to death.

Ruth Freeman, CEO of The Myton Hospices, said: “Myton is not only about end of life care, often people who have a terminal illness have a lot of living left to do and we want to support them to have the best possible quality of life, for as long as possible.

"When the time comes we believe people have the right to a good, natural death, either in one of our Inpatient beds or in their own home, with their loved ones supported.

“Less than 20 per cent of our funding comes from the NHS and this year alone we need to raise £9.1 million. To achieve this we rely on your generosity and we hope you don’t mind us asking for your ongoing support.

“We would like to invite you to join our special friends and supporter’s scheme called ‘My Myton’ and give £5 or £10 per month.

"When you join you will receive a red Myton hanging butterfly, a special thank you card and a quarterly newsletter by email.”

For more information go to: www.mytonhospice.org/mymyton or by calling the donor and supporter care team on 01926 358383.

To share memories and experiences of Myton email: [email protected]