The Hospice of St Francis

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The Hospice of St Francis

We help 2,000 local people and their families to live their precious lives well.

12/11/2025

✨Amazing opportunity! Want to help our patients and staff members in a meaningful way? ✨

We need volunteers on our:
⭐Inpatient Unit Kitchen Team
⭐Inpatient Unit Meet & Greet Team

Make a difference in a rewarding way here at the Hospice.

As one Kitchen Team volunteer shared: “I can see the immediate positive impact of my work: a patient happy to chat while we discuss menus, medical staff taking a well-deserved break over a cup of tea, cooks having utensils ready for use.”

You’ll be joining a fantastic community of people and making a real contribution to the care and support that we provide to patients and their loved ones. 🥰

Meet and Greet Volunteer Richard explained, “Every staff member at the Hospice is friendly, helpful and above all, caring. I believe that I am contributing in a very small but real way to its work. But for everything I contribute, I receive much more in return.”

Find out more today👉 stfrancis.org.uk/volunteer

10/11/2025

🤩We're so grateful for the support of The Hospice Running Club!
This fantastic group has raised an AMAZING £25,894.78 for the Hospice - helping local patients and their families receive comfort, care and dignity in the face of life-limiting illnesses. Thank you so much to all of the runners and also to Machins Solicitors 💜

09/11/2025

Andy recently visited the Hospice and shared a few words about the stars that he’s dedicating for Light Up A Life. ✨

“We’ve always done a star for Mum, but this is the first year we’re doing one for Dad. He only passed away recently,” Andy said, sharing a photo of his father on his phone.

“We’ve done Light Up A Life for the best part of twenty years and this year we’ll be remembering both Mum and Dad at the Hospice. Mum passed away here in the Hospice and our family got unbelievable support during that time. We were sort of overwhelmed by how wonderful a place it was.”

“Dad had never expected to be a widower, but he threw himself into volunteering for the Hospice. He created a whole new social life and new friendship groups; he went on to have a very fulfilled life thanks to the volunteering he did with the Hospice.” 💜

Andy’s star dedications help us care for other families living with life-limiting illnesses, offering comfort, dignity and love when it matters most.

We hope you’ll join us in remembering your loved one by dedicating a star this Christmas👉stfrancis.org.uk/lightupalife

08/11/2025

Wow, over 70 appointments were made as part of our Make a Will Month. A huge thank you to all the incredible solicitors who participated, an amazing show of support for the Hospice as they generously waived their fees for preparing a Will in exchange for a donation to the Hospice.

Your generosity and commitment to our community really makes all the difference to our care for patients and their families!

A HUGE Thank You to our participating firms:
Frank & Co Solicitors
Elite Law Solicitors
Matthew Waite & Co Solicitors
Hughes & Company Solicitors
Austins Penny & Thorne
Machins Solicitors LLP
Hine Solicitors
Baron Grey Solicitors
Neves Solicitors
Taylor Walton LLP

We are so grateful for your partnership and look forward to working together again!

07/11/2025

Originally from Russia, Elena relocated to the UK a decade ago, bringing with her a wealth of experience from the banking sector. After dedicating several years to raising her daughter, she embraced a new chapter by joining The Hospice of St Francis as the Shop Manager of its Greenway Owned outlet in August 2025.

In her role, Elena oversees daily operations and ensures the shop remains a welcoming and well-organised space for the community. “My main responsibilities are checking donations, opening the financial day and organising our team of volunteers,” Elena explains. “If customers or staff have questions, I’m always there to help.”

What drives her most is the people. “I love my team. They give 100% because they believe in The Hospice and how it helps so many families. I’m surrounded by people who try to give back more than they take.” Elena encourages others to explore The Hospice’s mission, “If someone looks deeper into what we do, they’ll want to be part of it too. I’m proud to be here. I feel happy every day I come to work.”

With a team of 13-15 volunteers, the shop offers a further 50% off all marked prices and even has a £1 rail. Lovingly known as the ‘Boutique on the Hill’ by locals, the shop also boasts free parking directly in front of the shop – a massive advantage when donating clothes, toys and small homeware

For more information, visit 👉https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569393064041

06/11/2025

A HUGE thank you to Choir On The Green for raising an incredible £7,500 from their 10th anniversary concert for The Hospice of St Francis. 👏👏

They were originally scheduled to perform at our Garden Party in September, which was sadly cancelled due to the weather. In a generous gesture, they donated all profits from their concert to support our care.💜

We are so grateful for their ongoing support.

05/11/2025

“At the age of 28, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I went through 18 months of treatment: 2 surgeries, 6 rounds of chemotherapy, 20 sessions of radiotherapy and a year of targeted treatment injections. This left me with debilitating levels of fatigue, making it seem impossible to get back to normal life.

Through my cancer nurse specialist, I was referred to The Hospice of St Francis. I had no idea what an occupational therapist did, and I was unsure how they could help me. In our first meeting, Jerri [the Hospice’s Occupational Therapist] asked me what my goal was. It was to get back and finish my PhD in Computer Science.

There is no magic fix to make fatigue disappear, but working with Jerri has felt close to that. She helped me change my mindset. Instead of comparing myself to pre-diagnosis me and focusing on what I can’t do, I have learnt to really appreciate what I can do. Celebrating little wins made me feel much more positive.

Jerri also helped me learn how to change my daily life to leave me with more energy. Changing habits of a lifetime felt alien to begin with and took a bit of trial and error, but with Jerri’s support and encouragement, I’ve found new ways that work for me.

So much has changed since I started working with Jerri. An occupational therapist can’t make fatigue go away, but they can help you learn to live with it rather than battle against it. My goal at the start of this was to get back to working on my PhD, and I can proudly say that I have achieved it.”

Thank you to Amy for sharing her story showing the impact that occupational therapy can have for patients. 💜

Royal College of Occupational Therapists

04/11/2025

🎆Don’t miss a brilliant evening out at the St Albans Fireworks Spectacular in the historic setting of Verulamium Park this Saturday 8th November. 🎆

With a family-friendly atmosphere, a vibrant food village and a portion of ticket sales going to support the Hospice – what’s not to love?

Book here👉 https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/Event/st-albans-fireworks-spectacular

Photo credit: Paul Wilkinson

03/11/2025

For Occupational Therapy Week, we’re sharing stories about the extraordinary impact occupational therapy can have on our patients.

Occupational Therapist Amy offered a glimpse into her work:
“We work with people who often feel a huge loss of control over their circumstances. What we can do is empower them to feel a sense of control again by using tools and strategies to do things that bring meaning and satisfaction to their day-to-day lives.

We work with the patient to understand what occupations or activities give their life meaning and a sense of purpose. Then we develop an understanding of the barriers that might be preventing them from participating in those activities. It goes beyond the physical. There’s a big element of understanding any psychological or emotional barriers. Their life may be revolving around hospital appointments and their illness. They may have lost their confidence or motivation.

We support patients to reconnect with themselves and to not be defined by their illness. We can give them a sense of hope in that they can re-engage with things that are meaningful to them. It’s about empowering the patient to optimise their quality of life within the context of their diagnosis and the limitations they’re facing.”

Royal College of Occupational Therapists

02/11/2025

🎇Save the date - The Big Give is coming! 🎇

We are counting down the days until our Big Give campaign kicks off.

For one week only, between Tuesday 2nd December – Tuesday 9th December, every donation made to The Hospice of St Francis via The Big Give will be doubled!

💜Double the donation
💜Double the precious moments this Christmas

Our nursing team do everything they can to make Christmas an extra special time for patients like Bill and his family.

“The Hospice gave our whole family Christmas back. It allowed us all to be together and to have one last Christmas with Dad. It was probably the best Christmas I've had.”- Sam, Bill’s son

Help us fund Inpatient care and home care for patients this Christmas – all donations will go towards providing patient care over the twelve days of Christmas.🎄

01/11/2025

You will not believe the impressive Christmas displays our team has created at Returned to Glory! 🤩You can snap up all things festive for your home at their Christmas Shopping Event this weekend.

Think handmade gifts, upcycled furniture, gorgeously curated room sets, and twinkle lights for days...plus Christmasy vibes galore. 🎄

📅Saturday 1st Nov, 9.30am-5pm
📅Sunday 2nd Nov, 10am-4pm

See you there!
📍HP4 1EH

31/10/2025

Happy Friday (and Halloween) from the Hospice! 🍁

The afternoon sun appeared in our gardens today, creating stunning views of autumn colours and light. 🍂

Address

Spring Garden Lane
Berkhamsted
HP43GW

Telephone

+441442869550

Website

https://www.stfrancis.org.uk/

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Every Life is Precious

The Hospice of St Francis is here to help people live their precious lives well. Our free care has many meanings and is defined by each person's need, needs that may change many times. We care for the whole person or family unit for however long we are needed – days, weeks, months or years.

We love what we do and we love your support too. Volunteering, sharing stories from your preciouslife, shopping with us (@ReturnedtoGlory / http://www.stfrancis.org.uk/shop-with-us), taking part in a fundraising challenge or simply donating to us, from coins in a home box to leaving a gift in your Will, all helps us raise over £5 million annually to fund our free care. Every penny is needed to do what we do.