AN APPEAL to raise £1.4million so that Worcester's St Richard's Hospice can care for more patients has been backed by a woman who receives vital support from the charity.

Jackie Pickford, who has the progressive illness Multiple Systems Atrophy (MSA), is urging people to donate to the Build 2020 appeal so that St Richard's can expand its hospice in Wildwood Drive by 2020 in order to increase the number of people it helps each year from 3,000 to 4,000.

 Jackie attends a regular hospice out-patient clinic, tai chi sessions, and has complementary therapy to help her condition. She has also had a short stay at St Richard’s In-patient Unit to improve her symptoms.

 “When I’m at St Richard’s I’m treated as a human being, not as someone being processed," she said. "I find the tai chi very relaxing and it improves my movement. 

It’s easy to do and gives me the skills to help manage my own condition. In our group we have people with different conditions, capabilities and needs, sharing a common enjoyment of doing something physical we probably wouldn’t be doing otherwise.

  “My reflexology sessions were relaxing and I now have aromatherapy massages to help relieve pain. 

"For me it’s also about the camaraderie, and knowing you are not on your own. It’s a place where it’s normal to have issues but you don’t have to talk about them or feel the need to do so.  It’s fun and light-hearted as well as being extremely useful as staff talk to each other so my care is co-ordinated.”

 Jackie’s husband, Ian, added, “When we told some of our friends that Jackie was having hospice support a number of them said, ‘I didn’t know Jackie was that ill.’ They thought hospices are places to go when nothing else can be done, but that’s not the case. Hospice care for us is about life improvement, not life end. It’s having fun, staying fit, learning skills to help self-manage your condition and enjoying life.”

 The couple, who have been together for 30 years, do as much as they can despite Jackie’s illness.

They regularly travel and Jackie takes her all-terrain wheelchair all over the world, anywhere where Ian can push. Recent trips included Russia, France, Germany  and previously Myanmar where Jackie and her wheelchair were transported in a longboat.

“We’ve been incredibly impressed with the care and support of St Richard’s. Jackie’s care is flexible and suits her needs. She gets exhausted so a full day at the traditional day hospice would be too long, but coming in to different sessions is better for her and our way of life.

 “There are many thousands who would really benefit from being supported by the hospice to live and enjoy the life they have.   Some people need it now, and for those

that don’t need it now,  you really want to know the care will be there for you, your family and friends in the future.”

To support the Build 2020 appeal, donate online at strichards.org.uk/build2020 or phone the fundraising team on 01905 763963.

To hold your own fundraising event to support Build 2020, contact the fundraising team.