Each year, Marie Curie Nurses make it
possible for more than 20,000 people with
cancer and other life-limiting illnesses to
be cared for at home by providing free
overnight nursing for patients and
emotional support for their families. This
year, working with Tesco, they hope to
raise £2·5 million, which will provide an
additional 125,000 hours of nursing for
patients who need care and support.
Research by the charity shows that most
people, if they were terminally ill, would
want to be cared for at home, surrounded
by the people and things they love.
However, only 25 per cent of cancer
patients will die at home, with more than
half dying in hospital.
For those who cannot be cared for at
home, Marie Curie Cancer Care has a
network of hospices across the UK. The
charity also undertakes important
research into cancer to try to understand
its causes and formulate better
treatments.
 Marie Curie Cancer
Care chief executive
Tom Hughes-Hallett
(right) says, ‘This
partnership will
bring lots of exciting
opportunities to
raise funds for more
home-nursing,
providing more
patients in need
with the care and support they deserve at home,
surrounded by the people they love most.’
Jenny and Richard Hunt from Northampton lost their 29-year-old daughter Lisa to cancer that spread from her spine to her brain last year. She was looked after, at home, by one of Marie Curie Cancer Care's Nurses.
‘I’d heard of Marie Curie but I didn’t know they had nurses until I was faced with needing their help,’ says Jenny. ‘It was so important for us to have Lisa at home when she was ill. We wanted to give her a sense
of normality. Julie, our Marie Curie Nurse, was sent to us through our district nurse, and she made a huge difference to our
lives. Julie allowed us some respite, the
space to pop to the shops or go for a walk, as we knew Lisa was in good hands. We couldn’t have coped by ourselves without their professional support. The work Marie Curie Nurses do is truly special.’ |
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Dawn Dyne, aged 47, from
Richmond
in North Yorkshire is Marie
Curie
Cancer Care’s Nurse of the Year
and has been working with the
charity
for four years.
‘I heard about the support the charity provides through a friend. I was working
in a nursing home at the time, and I felt
it was very much something I would like
to be involved in.
‘As a Marie Curie Nurse in the
community, I go into people’s homes to
look after them in their last days. It’s a
very humbling experience and it really
makes you feel privileged – you come
into people’s lives as a stranger and
leave as a friend.
‘By providing nurses, Marie Curie Cancer
Care gives patients choice, allowing
them to keep their dignity at home with
their loved ones. And it can be tough on
the families as they’re facing a difficult
time, so my job is often to bridge the
gap and help them through it.
‘Many terminally ill patients don’t want to
be in a hospital. They prefer familiar
surroundings. That’s why Marie Curie
Cancer Care is invaluable, as it gives
people that choice right up until the end.’
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• The cost of providing a Marie Curie
Cancer Care Nurse in a patient’s
home for an hour is £20 – but
patients receive care for free.
• Every day 410 people will die of
cancer in the United Kingdom.
• 2008 is Marie Curie Cancer Care’s
60th anniversary.
To show your support and make a
donation, or to simply find out more,
visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/tesco |
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