Skanda Vale Hospice

13/04/2026

A quick thank you — the response to our stallholder callout has been fantastic, with a lot of very beautiful offers coming in from makers across the area. We're now full for this year's fete, so we're not taking any more applications.

If you got in touch, thank you. It'll take us a while to get back to everyone, but we will be in contact.

For everyone else — the fete is on Saturday 6 June, 11am to 8pm, and this year it runs into the evening. Llandysul Community Gospel Choir and Indian dancer Debdatta Mallik during the day, then Samba Doc bring things up a gear around 3pm, and festival favourites Tootin Ska Moon carry us through to 8pm.

Homemade woodfired pizza, veggie BBQ, Indian snacks, cream teas, a plant stall, kids' games, and a proper party as the day winds down. £3.50 entry, under-7s free.

Full details: https://www.skandavalehospice.org/events/summer-fete/

10/04/2026

We asked Saloni how scared she is, on a scale of 1 to 5.

"Five. Maybe ten. I'm a very scared kitten."

She's going to do it anyway, because that's the kind of person Saloni is — and because on Sunday 3rd May, she'll be one of a brave handful of people walking barefoot across hot coals at our firewalk, with expert guidance from Stephen Morgan of Firewalk Cymru.

The embers glow at around 650°C. Stephen will prepare you thoroughly, and the experience is genuinely transformative for many. Everything else — the nerves, the disbelief, the quiet sense of accomplishment afterwards — is part of why people come back.

Every step raises vital funds for families across West Wales living with a life-limiting illness, cared for at Skanda Vale Hospice.

Spaces are limited. Come and join us?
👉 https://www.skandavalehospice.org/events/firewalk/

09/04/2026

We're looking for two more stallholders for our Hospice Fete on Saturday 6 June.

If you make something with care — pottery, jewellery, paintings, or anything a bit unusual and handmade — we'd love to hear from you. We're after artisan work, well made and one of a kind.

You'll have a space in our day room alongside the other stallholders, with a steady flow of visitors through the fete.

Please share with anyone who might be interested. To find out more, please message us or email us at: hello@skandavalehospice.org

06/04/2026

Hope you've had a lovely Easter weekend. How about spending the next Bank Holiday with us, flying through the air at 70mph above the Brecon Beacons?

On Monday 25 May, we're heading to Zip World Tower in Aberdare for a sponsored Phoenix Zip Challenge — the world's fastest seated zip line, set on a former coal mine with stunning views across the Cynon Valley.

Fifteen places, and a picnic together afterwards.

All sponsorship goes to support care at Skanda Vale Hospice.
Book your space: https://www.skandavalehospice.org/events/zip-wire-challenge/

04/04/2026

We're here to ease some of the pressure that comes with living with a life-limiting illness — for you and for the people closest to you. Here's how.

Day Hospice runs every Wednesday. It's a space to spend time with others, enjoy a home-cooked meal, and simply be yourself. There are complementary therapies like reflexology, acupuncture and massage. Art and craft if you fancy it. Beautiful gardens and countryside views. And a team with decades of palliative care experience who pay attention to the details.

Overnight Respite is available for up to seven days and six nights a month — a proper break in a place that feels more like a hotel than a hospital. You'll have 24-hour nursing care, a consultation with one of our palliative care doctors, complementary therapies, assisted bathing facilities, and freshly prepared meals shaped around you. Your room, the gardens and the shared spaces are all yours to enjoy with family and friends — at whatever pace suits you.

Remote Companion Support means regular phone or video chats with one of our hospice companions — for patients, family members, or both. It's a steady, reassuring point in the week for people who can't always travel.

As one of our patients, Peter, put it: "I've discovered here a vein of humanity that is very, very special."

A few things people are often surprised to learn:

🤍 Everything we do is completely free of charge

🤍 You don't need a GP to refer you — patients, family and friends can all get in touch directly

🤍 There's no catchment area — we welcome anyone aged 18+ living with a life-limiting diagnosis

🤍 We'd always encourage people to get in touch early — you don't need to wait until things feel urgent, and we can help you work out the right time to access our services.

We're a small, volunteer-led hospice in rural West Wales, funded entirely by the generosity of people who believe this kind of care matters. If you or someone you know might benefit from our support, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

📞 01559 371 222
🔗 skandavalehospice.org/how-we-help/making-a-referral/

31/03/2026

'When I turned up, I was pretty depressed. I was in a lot of pain. I was exhausted. As the week has gone on, I've found that my mood has lifted considerably, that my pain has been addressed.

The only schedule was one I put on myself. I decided when I woke up, I decided when I wanted my dinner. The problem is you've already got used to it, and you don't want it to stop!

I discovered the craft room, which to somebody like me who loves anything artistic, is like an Aladdin's cave. And I loved having the live entertainment come in to play for us.

But the highlight for me was definitely going out. Having guidance and not feeling unsafe. Knowing that those who'd gone with me were able to look after me should anything happen.

The ashram is actually very, very welcoming; the opportunity to get out and experience the ashram, meeting Valli [the elephant]. Those sessions were really special to me because they opened up my spirituality. I found them just really precious moments. The calm here and the peacefulness.

I just realise how fortunate I am. There are so many people who don't have this opportunity, and I've been lucky. I just want other people to get to experience it, because it does make things — in my case, cancer — easier to deal with. It really does.

My depression has lifted considerably. I still take my antidepressants, but not having to have a chemical intervention — just having people that want to help, in an environment that is suitable.

It's no good treating the body if you don't treat the mind as well.'

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Huge thanks to Mia for sharing her recent respite experience.

27/03/2026

Sometimes the simplest stories say the most. Helen reflects on caring, on loss, and on why volunteering here has made such a difference to her life.

If this resonates, you can find out more here: https://www.skandavalehospice.org/hospice-volunteers/volunteer-carer/

24/03/2026

Our next coffee morning is Thursday 26 March, 10.30am–12.30pm. Homemade cakes, proper coffee, plenty of tea — and a chance to look around and meet the team.

No charge. Everyone welcome. Just turn up.
Skanda Vale Hospice, Saron, SA44 5DY

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Cynhelir ein bore coffi nesaf Ddydd Iau 26 Mawrth, 10:30yb–12:30yh. Cacennau cartref, coffi go iawn, digon o de — a chyfle i edrych o gwmpas a chwrdd â'r tîm.

Am ddim. Croeso i bawb. Dewch draw.
Hosbis Skanda Vale, Saron, SA44 5DY

22/03/2026

'It's a year since I touched the earth. Because of my mobility, I'm not allowed to scratch around in the garden now — I can't really kneel down. It was a joy to have my hands in the soil again.

My mobility has decreased. In the last year, I've lost my confidence. But here I'm being taken outside by people who are interested, and I can sniff everything. Being empowered. Having the confidence again.

I feel I've died and gone to heaven. I've done so many things. I just wish my children could hear how many things I've been doing.'

- - - - -

During her respite week, Ann potted up sage and herbs, planted eight lettuces into the raised beds, and prepped others for the garden sale at our upcoming Summer Fête.

Our hospice provides free palliative care and support to the elderly with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

17/03/2026

'When we've told people we're coming here, they go, "You're going to a hospice?" They immediately think I'm gonna s***f it. Of course I am, but it's not imminent — hopefully. And so we sort of put them right, and then when we tell them what it's like, they say, "Oh, that sounds lovely."

There's no pressure to do anything. No pressure to be involved in anything. You can do what you want. You can be as sociable as you want. On your own as much as you want. There's no pressure anywhere to do anything. The people are just so nice — you feel you can do or say anything, really.'

Max & Linda 🥰

Our hospice provides free palliative care and support to the elderly with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

10/03/2026

A day or two a month, in one of the most beautiful hospice settings in Wales. We're looking for a qualified Moving & Handling Trainer to help our volunteer care team feel confident, capable and unhurried. If you've got a Train the Trainer qualification, we'd love to hear from you.

Know someone who might be right for this? Please share.

Full role description and how to apply: https://www.skandavalehospice.org/hospice-volunteers/volunteer-moving-and-handling-trainer/

08/03/2026

On Friday night, we treated our incredible team to a three-course Italian feast — celebrating the volunteer nurses, carers, cooks, housekeepers, administrators and more — who've just helped us expand from 4 to 6 nights of inpatient respite each month, now including weekends.

That's more care, across more of the week, for families across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire who need it most.

There may also have been a birthday cake. And a certain Healthcare Inspectorate Wales report we're quietly pleased about. More on that soon.

If this looks like your kind of team — and weekends work better for you than weekdays — we’d love to hear from you.

skandavalehospice.org/hospice-volunteers