With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting the UK in March 2020, we found ourselves without any charitable work to deliver – our focus was 100% on working with NHS hospitals to help them set up teams of ‘end of life’ volunteers, but because of the pandemic they now found themselves no longer allowed to visit dying patients.
As a small team, we had to regroup – think ‘outside the box’ and decide relatively quickly what we were going to do. We were at a pivotal time for the charity. We had just taken on two full time members of staff, bringing the team to four, and knew there was a growing need for support for people who were dying, and for their loved ones.
Every time we switched on the news there were more and more stories and reports of families not being able to be with their relatives when they needed them most. Waving goodbye to them as the ambulance doors closed, not knowing if they would ever see them again.
This resonated with me as it reflected what had happened to my family in the week before my mum, Anne Robson, died in 2010. She had been admitted to hospital with a suspected hip fracture, there was an outbreak of norovirus and visiting was not allowed. We were not able to visit mum for the week she was there, and she had no idea why. By the time she was discharged she was hours away from her death.
So, after much discussion and research we decided to set up a pandemic-proof helpline. One where the volunteers work from the comfort and security of their own homes, logging in to our call handling software when they are on shift. There are many hundreds of bereavement and grief support helplines – covering everything from death from specific diseases, suicide, cot death, and losing a child, to more clinically orientated services from hospices and larger charities. There seemed to be a huge gap of support for people who are struggling with facing the end of their own life, or that of a loved one, friend or colleague.
It is my hope that our helpline will fill this gap. If we can help people get through what is undoubtedly one of the most difficult times in their lives – we will have fulfilled our aim.
No one deserves to die alone.
Words by Founder and CEO of The Anne Robson Trust, Liz Pryor
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