National Gardens Scheme Helps Fund Marie Curie Nurses
The National Gardens Scheme (NGS) is helping to fund vital Marie Curie Nurses, by opening thousands of gardens to the public in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care and other charities. The small entrance fee to visit NGS gardens which is donated to the charity enables Marie Curie Nurses to provide more free care to patients with terminal cancer and other illnesses in the comfort of their own homes.
Tom Hughes-Hallett, Chief Executive of Marie Curie Cancer Care said: “I would like to thank everyone at the National Gardens Scheme and all those who are opening their garden this year for their continuing support. Since 1996 the partnership has raised £4.8 million, funding a staggering 240,000 hours of free home nursing care. We’re looking forward to another successful year of working together.”
Gardens have particular significance to Marie Curie patients as Honor Wright, a Marie Curie Nurse explains: “Gardens can be a very special place for terminally ill people. I care for a lot of patients who love their garden and still want to be able to enjoy it. I once cared for a lady who was a keen gardener and often talked about how she could no longer tend to her garden or even go into it. So her family and I brought her bed downstairs so he could see out into the garden. She loved seeing the birds and hearing them tweet first thing in the morning.”
To get help from the Marie Curie Nursing Service, talk to your GP, district nurse or discharge nurse. For more information visit www.mariecurie.org.uk.
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For further information, images or to interview a Marie Curie Nurse contact: Liz Ensor, Marie Curie Cancer Care Public Relations, 020 7599 7265 or liz.ensor@mariecurie.org.uk
Notes to Editor:
Marie Curie Cancer Care is one of the UK’s largest charities. Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, it expects to provide care to around 29,000 terminally ill patients in the community and in its hospices this year and is the largest provider of hospice beds outside the NHS.
Funding
Around 70 per cent of the charity’s income comes from the generous support of thousands of individuals, membership organisations and businesses, with the balance of our funds coming from the NHS.
Marie Curie Nurses
The charity is best known for its network of Marie Curie Nurses working in the community to provide end-of-life care, totally free for patients in their own homes.
Research
The charity has two centres for palliative care research, The Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Unit at University College London and The Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute in Liverpool.
It also funds seven fundamental scientific research groups which investigate the causes and treatments of cancer. This research was previously carried out at the Marie Curie Research Institute in Oxted, Surrey. The programmes are now located in universities around the country, and will receive funding from the charity until 2012.
Supporting the choice to die at home
Research shows around 65 per cent of people would like to die at home if they had a terminal illness, with a sizeable minority opting for hospice care. However, more than 50 per cent of cancer deaths still occur in hospital, the place people say they would least like to be. Since 2004 Marie Curie Cancer Care has been campaigning for more patients to be able to make the choice to be cared for and die at home.