YOU will know of somebody that is or has suffered with cancer!
3 of 4 Terminally-ill people will die in hospital this year.
9 of every 10, would choose to spend their end-of-life time, at home with family.
Currently, only 1 in 4 have this final wish granted.
With YOUR HELP, we can improve on this heartbreaking statistic.
Most people know someone that has died of cancer. It's not surprising; cancer is the UK's biggest killer. 40% of the population will develop cancer at some time.
1 in 4 people will die from cancer and 6 people will die in hospital every day.
Marie Curie Cancer Care is the leading provider of end of life care for people with cancer and other life limiting illnesses.
Our services are always free of charge to patients and their families at home - and your support really would make an incredible difference in your community.
Over the past year, 2 dedicated Marie Curie nurses ("angels") spent 1,114 hours caring for 14 terminally ill men and women during their final days across Newport. These patients died with dignity at their own home, exactly where they wanted to be and where 3 in 4 people say would be their first choice to spend their final days.
Marie Curie Cancer Care would like to support more patients in Newport, as last year 1 in 2 people died in hospital - a place designed to help people get well - not support them when they are dying.
We are committed to working closely with the new commissioning body in Gwent (the AneurinBevan Local Health Board) and other providers in the area to provide more home care to patients at the end of life, and their families.
For the past 61 years, every minute of every day, the Marie Curie nurses have provided a vital and necessary service in your community. Often working straight through the day and night, often staying with an individual patient, to the very end.
Last year, the average cost to provide a local family with home nursing care and support was:
Cost of specialised overnight nursing care £180
Average cost of nursing per terminally ill patient £1,080 (6 days)
Below, are a couple of extracts from letters received from our patient's families:
"Thank you for all you did for my father, and the family, in the last few weeks of his life. He did worry about disturbing us at night so it was a reassurance for him that someone else was there to help and it was a great benefit to me that I could have an uninterrupted night's sleep. Thank you for your care and attention in a most professional manner. We all have the highest regard for your work and the services of the Marie Curie Nursing Service"
"Being able to have John at home provided a sense of normality in an otherwise abnormal and distressing situation. Our children, who were only nine and eight at the time, could come and see their dad for short periods of time at regular intervals each day. John was much more secure and orientated in his own surroundings and I could sleep when he did rather than sit in a chair by a hospital bed. The difference Marie Curie Cancer Care made to our life as a family in these final days of John's life was immense."
With residents and local businesses choosing to support Marie Curie as their Charity of the Year and by working together on specific events and initiatives across 2010, we can start to make an immediate impact upon those patients that are currently terminally ill.
Because without your support, this care will simply not be possible.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please, help us to make a difference.
Penny Reeves,
Regional Corporate Development Manager, Wales and West
The charity is an independent voluntary organisation, registered in England and Wales with Charity Reg No. 207994