At Prospect Hospice, we provide outstanding, personalised and compassionate care for everyone in Swindon, Marlborough and the surrounding areas affected by a life-limiting illness, completely free of charge. For more than 40 years, we’ve been a dedicated, non-hospital, end-of-life care service for patients and their loved ones - around the clock, every day of the year. Our mission is to ensure that anyone can access the best possible expert care whenever and wherever they need it – whether at the hospice or in their own home. As a charity, we only exist because of the generosity and support of our amazing local community.
Find out about the range of end-of-life care services that we offer to patients and their families. These delivered free of charge and are designed to provide compassionate, personalised support during every stage of a life-limiting illness in every kind of care setting, to anyone who needs it.
We couldn’t do what we do without considerable support from our local community. Find out all the different ways in which you can support Prospect Hospice, including fundraising, volunteering and purchasing from our shops. All contributions are greatly appreciated and enables us to deliver care that is free of charge to our patients and their families.
Our café sits at the heart of our hospice in Wroughton and serves a range of delicious home cooked meals to suit all tastes. Whether you're looking to catch up with friends over lunch or relax with coffee and cake, our Heart of the Hospice café has you covered.
Whether shopping with us in person or online, or donating your pre-loved goods, we thank you for supporting us through our shops where you help to raise around £2million a year for Prospect Hospice.
We pride ourselves on being a great place to work and we're always looking for outstanding people to join our team at the hospice across all areas of the charity.
Prospect Hospice is the leading provider of education and training for end-of-life care in Swindon and north Wiltshire. Working closely with you, our colleagues within partner organisations, we want to ensure that the very best care is available to everyone facing the end of life. This is why we provide education and development opportunities, all of which aim to encourage learning and build confidence in end of life care and support.
Today, on the 75th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, we had the pleasure of spending time with Day Therapy patient Alex McInnes, who spoke to us about his memories of serving his country on D-Day.
On June 6 1944, Alex was an eighteen-year-old Navy conscript helping American troops storm the Omaha beach on a LSI (Landing Ship, Infantry): a British Commonwealth vessel used to transport landing craft and troops during the Second World War. As he recalled his memories of that infamous day, he reminisced about the bravery and camaraderie of those who fought all those years ago.
“When we brought over the first lot of Americans to the beach, the Germans still had control and were shelling our ship, so we had to transfer over to another ship, but by the time we did that the Germans had been pushed back,” said Alex. “All the military worked together that day; people don’t often realise it but the RAF played a huge part, chasing off the stukas and heinkels so we could get those boys to the beach.”
He acknowledges that luck was also on the side of the allies when it came to planning the invasion. “On June 6 there was some hesitation about going to Normandy because it was cloudy, but if we’d have waited until June 7, D-Day would’ve been cancelled due to bad weather, and who knows what the outcome would have been,” he said.
Signing up at age 16 in 1942, Alex started his stint in the Navy as a boy signalman and then progressed to D Squadron on HMS Cossack as a mail courier. He described the navy as ‘the best time in his life’, giving him the opportunity to travel as far as Tokyo and Hiroshima, but was happy to get home ‘safe and sound’ and go back to being a civilian when the war ended. He went on to marry and have two daughters.
Alex came to use the Day Therapy services at Prospect Hospice after having a stroke that left him with impaired mobility, and enjoys the social side of his visits in particular. “The people and the staff are lovely, so welcoming and friendly. It’s the highlight of my week coming here,” he smiled.
We ended our chat by wishing Alex a happy birthday (he turns 93 at the end of this month) and he thanked us for taking the time to listen to his stories, and help him remember the events of D-Day. He also thanked the Day Therapy staff for all they do for him and for his friends.
#LestWeForget #DD75thanniversary
For more information about our Day Therapy services, click the link here www.prospect-hospice.net/care/therapy/
31 May 2019
24 May 2019