Work has started at our site in Ayr, and we’ll soon start laying the foundations of our new Hospice. An incredible £13.2 million has successfully been raised, but we still need to secure the final £3.8 million to complete the build and kit out 12 new specialist palliative care bedrooms. Will you help us turn our vision into a reality?

The amazing support we have received for our Capital Build project through 2022 has allowed us to start laying the foundations and constructing our new hospice building. A new hospice will allow us to enhance our facilities and services, allowing us to continue to deliver quality palliative care today, tomorrow and for the next generations of Ayrshire and Arran. We have big plans to make sure our the new Ayrshire Hospice will be fit for the future.

In the old Hospice, we only had a small number of single rooms; the majority were multi-bedded bays, meaning some patients shared rooms and bathrooms. Our new building, however, will have 12 fully-equipped single-patient bedrooms, each with its own en-suite shower room. This will dramatically increase patients’ privacy and dignity during their stay.

As well as being private, we want each bedroom to feel homely, with comfortable specialist beds that can lengthen, lower, tilt, warm up or cool down to accommodate the patients’ needs and wants. For example, a Cuddle Bed can expand to the size of a double, allowing families to have a proper cuddle. Meanwhile, a sofa bed in each room will allow visitors to cosy up with their loved ones, and to stay overnight.

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A completely new feature of the Hospice is that each room will look out over a sheltered, secluded patio with planters. The patios can be used in all weathers and will have direct bed access, so that any patient – no matter how complex their needs – can enjoy being outside whenever they like. The patios will preserve each patient’s connection to the natural environment, which means so much to many of us.

These are just the start of our plans - to find out more, click here.

However, in order to fully equip our rooms and create a home from home for our patients and their families, we also need:

• Patient comfort kits, which contain cosy nightwear, quality towels, and luxury yet gentle bath and shower gels (perfect for patients with sore, sensitive skin)

• Hoists, which will be part of the bed system. The hoists will be concealed behind the bed underneath panelling, hidden out of sight until they’re needed to help a patient get out of bed to see family, receive care, or visit the gardens

• Syringe drivers with lockboxes: machines which release controlled amounts of pain-relieving medicine to patients over a precise timescale

This equipment – and more – will help to make every day matter at the new Ayrshire Hospice. Unfortunately, while we think of this equipment as essential, it is not cheap to buy. It costs approximately £30,000 to completely equip just one room – which is why we’re asking for help.

Please consider making the artist's impressions a reality and helping to build Ayrshire’s new hospice by kindly donating today. Thank you. 

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