Anne’s Story
Your Light Up a Life donation will go towards caring for and supporting our patients and their loved ones here at St Andrew’s Hospice; families like Anne’s…
Anne’s Story
I’m Anne Brown and I want to share with you what St Andrew’s Hospice means to me and how the Hospice has helped to care for me and my loved ones.
My Hospice journey started in 1997 when my Mum, Annie Kelly, was cared for in the elderly care ward for 11 months.
After my Mum passed away, I wanted to give something back to the Hospice so I volunteered on reception on Monday evenings and helped to cover other evenings when I could. I have been a volunteer ever since.
When I retired, I started volunteering with the Fundraising Team; helping with bucket collections, writing the Light Up a Life cards and assisting at events including the Thanksgiving Thistles service and the Midnight Walk. I also volunteered for a few hours each week in the Hospice’s Airdrie shop. Over the years, I have made many friends among the staff and other volunteers.
In August 2022, my husband Denis began to feel unwell and in the September, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. This was a huge shock to us as Denis was never unwell. He loved to play golf and was well known on the golf course. He also took part in the Hospice’s golf day at Easter Moffat. He enjoyed helping others; he even came to his first ever Midnight Walk with me in the June of 2022.
As Denis’s health deteriorated, I asked that he be brought into St Andrew’s Hospice. Denis knew about the excellent care the Hospice provided for patients and families as both his Mum and mine had been patients there. Denis was content about coming into St Andrew’s. He knew he would be well looked after and die peacefully there. He wanted to ensure that I was supported, which I was.
Denis was latterly moved into one of the larger rooms so that all the family could visit. Nothing was any bother for the staff who came in regularly to ensure that we were both comfortable. Denis passed away on 8th December 2022.
Compassion and dignity is at the heart of everything the staff do for patients and families and I have continued to experience this.
I returned to volunteering in February 2023. Being in the Hospice brings me comfort and I am well looked after by everyone there.
Today, I have the honour of sharing my story with you and inviting you to join us for the Hospice’s annual Light Up a Life Service.
The loss of someone special can be felt more deeply over the festive period, so I would like to invite you and your loved ones to attend the service which will be held in the grounds of the Hospice on Sunday 1st December at 7pm. If you can’t attend in person, you can watch a live stream of the service online. The highlight of the service is the lighting of the Christmas tree, with each light twinkling in honour or in memory of someone very special.
To dedicate a light to someone special to you, please click here.
St Andrew’s Hospice is a charity and it relies on the generosity of people like you in our local community to fund the compassionate, specialist care and support delivered to families, just like mine, across Lanarkshire.
If you feel able to do so, please make a contribution to your local Hospice. Whatever you can give will be hugely appreciated!