TV star marks 25 years of hospice (From Worcester News)

TV star marks 25 years of hospice

10:00am Monday 28th September 2009

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HUNDREDS of people attended an uplifting concert presented by television star Patricia Routledge to mark 25 years of St Richard’s Hospice.

The concert at Worces-ter Cathedral on Friday evening was attended by at least 700 people, who gathered to mark the 25th anniversary of the hospice which provides care for people with life-limiting illnesses.

The concert also raised £7,000 towards the ongoing costs of running the hospice in Wildwood Drive, Worcester, through ticket sales and donations.

Mrs Routledge, famous for playing Hyacinth Bucket in the comedy series Keeping Up Appearances, has been a patron of the hospice since 1988.

She said: “This is a very special occasion – the 25th anniversary of the founding of the hospice which began very modestly when I first visited the offices in Castle Street.

“I have seen it develop under the passionate – and compassionate – commitment of people giving their time to helping people on their last difficult journey.

“I am thrilled to be here and I was thrilled to visit the new building in Wildwood Drive, which I visited when it was still being built. I am honoured to be here.”

David Hallmark, a founding governor of the hospice, said: “We must dedicate ourselves to another phase of the life of our hospice for therein lies our ability to remind our patients who are part of our local family that in their pain and anxiety there are carers committed to their treatment, both of mind and body.”

Charlie Green, of Droitwich, the 12-year-old singing star from Bishop Perowne School in Worcester, who impressed Simon Cowell on Britain’s Got Talent, performed an original song by Lee Fisher, For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder and Stars from Les Miserables.

He said: “I’m quite excited to be performing here. It’s a different place to where I usually sing such as theatres and arenas, especially with the acoustics.

“This is the first time I have sung here in the cathedral.”

Barbara Moss, aged 54, of Aconbury Close, off New-town Road, Worcester, read an extract from her book, Who’s been peeping in my bed? which describes her experiences after being given a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Mrs Moss read from chapter nine: New Hope, describing how she was inspired to paint by the artwork of a patient of St Richard’s Hospice who was diagnosed with and later died of cancer.

She also talked about her own painting the Hand of Hope, which describes her own feelings about her illness.

The evening included performances from the Worcester Male Voice Choir, a poem by a former patient read out by Mark Jackson, the hospice’s chief executive, and a performance by the St Richard’s Singers.

Helen Griffee, the hospice communication manager, said: “It was a wonderful evening, both really moving and really uplifting.

“The performances were fantastic and the finale was brilliant.”

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