Hospice Care charity Phyllis Tuckwell provides supportive and end of life care for local people affected by cancer, or another serious progressive illness, supporting over 250 patients and relatives every day. Those who stay on its In-Patient Unit (IPU) are often there for the last weeks and days of their lives, a precious time for loved ones to spend together. So that families can stay close by, even at night, the Hospice has special relatives’ rooms next to the IPU. Some of the rooms on the IPU also have sofabeds in them, so that relatives can stay right by their loved one’s bedside in the last days and hours of life. And it was one of these sofabeds which staff at Phyllis Tuckwell were trying to source.

Because of the strict hygiene regulations which Phyllis Tuckwell adheres to, the sofabed needed to be made of leather, so that it could be kept clean easily. Medical staff on the IPU passed their request on to the charity’s corporate team, to ask local businesses for their help with the financial side of the purchase.

Vale Furnishers – long-time supporters of Phyllis Tuckwell – were approached, and were more than willing to help. Although they did not have a suitable leather sofabed in stock, Managing Director Mark Chandler spent a huge amount of time looking into different makes and models, to find the most suitable one, and spoke to various different suppliers to see who might be able to provide the required item at the lowest price.

After a huge amount of work and effort, Mark was able to source a suitable sofa bed which met the strict hygiene rules of Phyllis Tuckwell. Vale Furnishers then purchased it themselves and donated it as a Gift In Kind to Phyllis Tuckwell, meaning that the charity did not have to pay for the item itself.

“We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Mark Chandler and everyone at Vale Furnishers for the huge effort they put into sourcing this sofabed and negotiating the leather version, as well as then buying it and donating it to our IPU,” said Paul Pearson, Corporate Fundraiser at Phyllis Tuckwell. “Support from local businesses is vitally important to us, as the NHS/Government funding we receive only covers 20% of our costs, meaning we have to raise over £15,000 a day to be able to offer all of our services, free of charge, to patients and their families.”

If you would like to find out more about how local businesses can support Phyllis Tuckwell, please call Georgi or Paul on 01252 729462 or email corporate@pth.org.uk

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Notes for Editors:
For press enquiries and alternative pictures contact: Jen Barnes at Phyllis Tuckwell on 01252 729433 or email jen.barnes@pth.org.uk

Caption: Vale Furnishers deliver the sofabed to Phyllis Tuckwell’s In-Patient Unit.