Garden House Hospice Care

20/11/2025

We warmly welcome you to dedicate a light in our gardens in memory of someone special ✨

The 'Lights of Life' will be switched on at our annual service next Sunday 30th November as a moving tribute to the people we love and miss. Four areas of our gardens will be illuminated with your dedications - the woodland walk, the Christmas tree, the orchard and the sundial circle - with the names of your loved ones printed on a special dedication board in each area*.

Laura and Delyth are two of our wonderful supporters who have dedicated a light ahead of Lights of Life. Laura told us:

"I’ve chosen to dedicate this light to my dad at a place that holds such deep meaning for our family. Though Dad chose to spend his final days at home, it feels only right to honour his memory here, where both my dear nan, Dorothy, and my wonderful friend Rebecca were cared for with such dignity and kindness. This light is a small way of saying thank you, and of keeping their presence close."

To make a dedication, please visit www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/book/lights-of-life where you can also reserve your space at Lights of Life and/or book a tranquil garden visit the week after the service. We kindly ask for a minimum donation of £5 per light to help us to continue providing our compassionate care in the coming winter months and beyond 💙

*Please make your dedication by midnight on Sunday 23rd November in order to have your loved one's name on display.

18/11/2025

"Hospices desperately want to reach everyone who needs them, but financial pressure is holding them back." Read more about the challenges we and other hospices are currently facing in this article from the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgyqdpwn55o 🔗

Some 380 hospice beds lie empty in England because of financial pressures, say bosses.

17/11/2025

We are delighted to welcome the incredibly talented singer Roxy Searle back to our Lights of Life Remembrance Service on Sunday 30th November.

Roxy’s connection to Garden House Hospice Care is deeply personal. When her beloved Nan wished to remain at home, our community team made that possible, surrounding her with warmth, care and support. Roxy fondly calls them “angels” for the way they embraced her whole family – singing with her Nan, making her laugh, and filling those moments with memories they will always cherish.

🌟 Join us for this special evening of reflection, music and light. Together, we’ll fill our gardens with hundreds of beautiful shining lights, each one a heartfelt tribute to someone cherished and never forgotten.

🔗 Dedicate your light, reserve your place at the service, or book a garden visit by heading to www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/lights-of-life

15/11/2025

Following on from Tuesday’s moving ITV Anglia feature, Roz shares her heartfelt experience of the care and comfort she’s received in our Inpatient Unit.

Her story is a powerful reminder of what your support makes possible – moments of peace, dignity, and compassion when they matter most.

Roz is calling on you to help ensure that Garden House Hospice Care can continue to be here for local people and families, now and in the future.

🔗 Please consider donating today to help us continue providing vital care and support to our community. Head to www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/crisis-appeal

13/11/2025

When Garden House Hospice Care promises we will do everything we can to protect our patient care, we will.

Today, that means standing outside parliament.

Our vision is that every person matters, right up to the very end of life. So we will fight to ensure this isn’t the end for hospices.

🔗 Please support us to ensure that Garden House is here for local people and families, now and in the future, by heading to www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/crisis-appeal

12/11/2025

We’re incredibly grateful to Chris Hinchliff MP, for speaking up in parliament on the value of palliative and end-of-life care.

Chris highlighted the crippling funding gap facing hospices and called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to consider broader reform to put hospice funding on a sustainable footing.

Chris’ words mean so much to our patients, families, staff, and volunteers. Thank you, for helping to bring national attention to the challenges our hospice faces and pushing government to “explore every option to keep Garden House Hospice open.”

Disappointingly, the response from the Prime Minster shows the lack of understanding of the urgent situation we are in and the value of the £100million he refers to.

We were grateful to receive our proportion of this grant last year, which allowed us to implement new digital ways of working for our community teams, improving efficiency and freeing up more time to see patients.

However, this funding did not address Garden House Hospice Care’s overall deficit. While appreciated, it does not cover the shortfall in day-to-day running costs.

Short term fixes are not the solution. We hope the government listens and starts prioritising urgent sustainable funding as Chris said.

🔗 You can read our full update, and find ways to support our Crisis Appeal, here: www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/important-update

11/11/2025

🎥 This evening we welcomed ITV Anglia back to Garden House Hospice Care. During their visit, they spoke with Roz, a patient currently being cared for in our Inpatient Unit, and with CEO, Lisa Hunt.

💙 We ask you to please take a moment to watch this video – to hear from Roz whose wishes for end-of-life care is at the very heart of why we exist.

This is an incredibly challenging and uncertain time, not only for Garden House, but for hospices across the country. What has not changed, and will not change, is our unwavering dedication to providing dignified, compassionate care and support to local people and their loved ones when they need us most.

We cannot express enough how much your kindness, encouragement, and belief in our work means to us right now. Our community has always been our strength, and your support is more vital than ever.

📲 We kindly ask you to share this post to help raise awareness of the crisis facing hospices like ours.

🔗 You can read the full update, and find ways to support our Crisis Appeal, at: www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/important-update

Thank you for standing with us.

07/11/2025

A few weeks ago, we asked our community to stand with us once more as we faced a significant £750,000 funding gap this year – rising to £1.1 million next year. To date, we have received £134,075 in donations from those who heard our call. We are deeply grateful for your generosity and the belief you continue to show in us.

Sadly, despite this incredible support, it isn’t enough. Today, we face the most serious challenge in our Hospice’s history.

We receive 29% of our total funding from the NHS for core hospice and health services that they commission and fund on behalf of patients, leaving us to raise the other 71% through charitable donations. Sadly, this year there has been a decline in giving across the charity sector, and Garden House Hospice Care has been affected by this too.

We have raised our concerns locally and nationally and asked the NHS to help us to meet the shortfall in our funding. The NHS has confirmed that there will be no reduction in their funding this year, and they will maintain our current funding levels next year, with a potential uplift in line with national guidance – equating to around £45,000 against our £1.1 million shortfall. While we appreciate this minor increase, this still leaves Garden House Hospice Care with some difficult decisions to take now, to ensure that we will still be here to support our local community this year and in the years to come.

We now have no choice but to act, so implementing a plan we never wanted to use is our only way of sustaining Garden House for the future. We are confident that taking immediate action will enable us to protect hospice care for our current and future patients and their families.

It is with great sadness, we are entering a formal 30-day consultation on services, which we expect could result in over 20 redundancies. Our focus is on supporting patients, family members and colleagues through this uncertain time whilst we face our new reality.

Our full range of services will remain unchanged throughout this consultation period.

In the future, services may look different, structures may change but one thing is for certain – our commitment to quality and compassionate care in the final phase and days of life for our patients, their families and carers remains our biggest priority.

The silence from national decision-makers is deafening. Hospices across the UK have been warning of this crisis for years. Two-thirds faced a funding shortfall last year, and this year 40% of hospices are being forced to cut services. This is expected to rise. This is not just a funding crisis - it is a care crisis.

We vow to continue to put our patients first and to support them through any changes to their care. We are and will continue to do everything we can to minimise the impact on them and their loved ones.

🔗 For more information, visit www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/important-update

03/11/2025

Our latest edition of Open House is here. In this issue, we reflect on the challenges faced by our Hospice and share powerful stories from across our services and local community.

You’ll read:
💙 Facing the future together – An honest look at the funding challenges ahead, and how your continued support helps us protect vital care.
💙 Kelly & Donna’s story – A moving reflection on the comfort and care this family has received at Garden House.
💙 Big Give 2025 – An ask for your support as our funding shortfall deepens. Find out how your donation can go that much further this December.

This edition is a heartfelt reminder of why our work matters, and how together we can continue to fight to keep our services here for patients of today and tomorrow.

🔗 Read the winter 2025 edition of Open House:
www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/news-story/open-house-winter-2025

31/10/2025

Tonight in aid of Garden House Hospice Care! Gates open at 17:30. Adult tickets are £10, under 12s £5 and under 3s free. Come along for a spooktacular night of halloween fireworks 🎆🎃

https://www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/event/letchworth-rugby-club-fireworks-set

30/10/2025

"Until it affects you personally, you don't really know what loneliness is."

Roy has lived alone in Ickleford since his wife died four years ago. Despite dreaming of living in a large house when he was younger, he now realises being by himself is "no joke". With winter looming and darker evenings already falling, feelings of loneliness are all the more present.

Thanks to Compassionate Neighbours, Roy has formed an unexpected friendship with volunteer Revinder, who visits him on a weekly basis. The pair spend an hour a week together, talking non-stop, reminiscing about Roy's childhood during the war, and laughing endlessly. This video is just a snapshot of what their Tuesday mornings look like.

The service has also been transformative for Revinder, who gets "complete joy" out of making a big difference by doing something small each week. Despite her initial concerns they wouldn't have anything in common, she says her shared sense of humour with Roy means he now feels like family.

Roy and Revinder's friendship is a wonderful example of how Compassionate Neighbours is changing lives. But the reality is the national population is aging, and we need more volunteers to meet the demand and ensure no-one in our community is left behind.

If you could be the difference in someone's week by giving up just one hour of your time, please fill out our application form. You'll then be invited to our next Introductory Day - an informal training session taking place at the Hospice on Wednesday 26th November.

🔗 Apply now: https://www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/compassionate-neighbours

29/10/2025

Earlier this year, our Rehab and Wellbeing team addressed a need in the local community to support a greater number of individuals living with rare and rapid neurological conditions, such as Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

Working closely with our dedicated Neuro Navigator, Anita Hyde-Smith from Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, patients now have their second appointment here at Garden House Hospice Care, in a bid to help them feel more comfortable accessing our services. This change has had a positive impact, and we’re delighted to see more people connecting with us.

The team have also introduced a weekly peer-to-peer Neuro Support Group. Sessions provide a safe, inclusive and dedicated space for individuals to come together, share experiences, and build a sense of community. It’s been heartwarming to see so many genuine friendships form, with attendees now also connecting with each other outside of the group.

Kent, who has been accessing our day services for five years since his MND diagnosis, is a big advocate for the changes and enjoys being a part of the group to support the newcomers:

"You can meet other people who are going through similar changes in life, and you can also just meet other people socially that you may never have known if you hadn't come here. Everybody's friendly, accommodating, supportive, and you can be yourself.

"You learn more about the Hospice by being here and how they support the community. Every question I've ever had in my mind I can ask here - so you've always got someone you can talk to."

To learn more about our free rehabilitative services and how to refer yourself or someone else affected by a life-limiting condition, please visit https://www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/rehab-and-wellbeing 💙