Tandridge nurses step out to support St Catherine’s Hospice
A team of Tandridge District Nurses are putting their best feet forward to raise money for St Catherine’s Hospice this October.
The North Tandridge District Nursing Team, as part of First Community Health and Care, work alongside St Catherine’s caring for local terminally ill people in their own homes in the community.
On Saturday 6 October, the team will complete a sponsored walk between six GP surgeries that they and St Catherine’s support. 15 people, including nurses, nursing assistants, student nurses and an administrator, will begin their walk at Townhill Medical Practice before walking along to Chaldon Road Surgery and onto Caterham Valley Medical Practice. The group will then walk along Croydon Road to Whyteleafe Surgery before heading onto Warlingham Green and finishing at Elizabeth House Surgery.
Maria Poynter is one of the nurses taking part. She said, “This is a huge challenge for our team with a mix of ages and abilities but we want to raise awareness of district nursing, as well as raise money for St Catherine’s. The hospice works alongside our team and our GP colleagues to make sure local people’s wishes are met at the end of their lives. A lot of the people we care for across the community are facing the end of their lives and St Catherine’s nursing team is pretty much always there to help us. They’re really good. We’ll give them a call if we’re struggling with any patients and we also attend local team meetings with them. Many of the people we care for are also under St Catherine’s care so our teams usually talk to each other daily. We’ve got to know the hospice nurses quite well and St Catherine’s is a cause close to our hearts. As well as a professional relationship, some of our team have personal experience of the hospice too.”
When asked what the team’s biggest challenge will be, Maria said, “The big hill up to Warlingham Green Surgery! We’re not looking forward to that but overall, it’ll be a fun day. It’ll be really nice to get together as a team outside of work too.”
It’s work where Maria and her colleagues witness the difference St Catherine’s makes. And how their support helps terminally ill people and their families cope in the community around us.
Maria adds, “St Catherine’s doesn’t get enough funding for the work they do so we want to raise £500 to help provide care for more local people in the future. When I heard St Catherine’s can only care for one in three local people, I felt disappointed. Everybody should get the care that St Catherine’s helps give, not just a few. That makes our walk even more worthwhile.”
If you would like to sponsor Maria and her colleagues please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kathy-reynolds6
