Corby Lakelands' Hospice at Home service given £5,000 cash boost from Freemasons

A Corby hospice has secured a grant to boost their Covid-depleted coffers and to help keep their home care community service going

Corby's Lakelands Hospice's Hospice at Home service has been bosted by a £5,000 donation from members of Corby's Masonic Lodge, helped by county and national branches.

The money will be used to fund nurses providing much-needed care for people in the last four weeks of life, a service that saw demand double during the first lockdown.

Sue Hall, Lakelands trusts and grants officer, said: "It's fantastic and we're really grateful. Every year I put in an application to the Corby Masons, and we normally get £500.

"This year we got £2,500 from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire which was match-funded by the Masonic Charitable Foundation."

Mrs Hall has had first-hand experience of the Hospice at Home service, firstly when her father John Little died in September 2014 and again when her husband Andy Hall passed away in March 2016 after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

She said: "The support you get is brilliant - knowing that they are there, helping you do the right thing. I made that grant application from the heart because I know what it means and the difference it makes."

The service that started in 2010 receives referrals from all GP surgeries in Corby and is available 365 days a year. Since April, 59 patients have been helped with 175 nights of care received.

James Spence, senior group officer for Corby Masons, said: "I'm very pleased to be supporting Lakelands. It's not just for Corby but the whole area and we support them and they support us. We would like to thank Lakelands for supporting our members."

Dr Kevin Williams from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, and a former Corby GP, said: "It is a charity that we have supported for many years.

"We give support on a national and local basis particuarly hospices up and down the country especially at this time."

The hospice does not receive any NHS or government funding and is entirely funded by charitable donations and support from the local community.

Head of fundraising Paul Marlow said: "The hospice costs in excess of £545,000 per year to meet the needs of those living with life limiting illnesses such as cancer, COPD, heart failure, multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease.

"It costs around £230 a night for the service but we have been able to keep up with demand which doubled during the first four to five months of lockdown."