Butterfly Appeal will help to transform sick patients' final days
Led by West Suffolk Hospital’s My WiSH charity and supported by the Bury Free Press, the £340,000 Butterfly Appeal will pay for a private area within a garden area of the hospital so that terminally ill patients can either reflect or spend time with family and friends.
Sally Daniels, appeal manager at My WiSH, said: “We will put television in the room to allow everyone to enjoy their favourite programmes or a film together and a music system for them to enjoy their favourite songs.”
The aim is to transform the experiences of end-of-life and terminally ill patients.
Sally added: “Home entertainment is a big part of family life. If they have always loved to sit down to watch daytime TV or listen to the Archers, then to allow them to do this comfortable ritual is just so important. We are sure the familiarity of this act will give great comfort to everyone”.
The room will have hidden cupboards to store items for nursing staff should the patient require personal care. This cupboard space will also house tea and coffee-making facilities – all the basics needed to make the space comfortable for people to spend a few hours in there.
Sensitive lighting will be chosen to ensure the room is light but not too bright for the patient. Lamps and mood lighting will allow people to choose the lighting they wish. The large glass doors will provide lots of natural daylight but also have curtains or blinds should the family wish to close them.
The garden will be full of sensory plants; lavenders, herbs, plants which give off beautiful scents but are evergreen to ensure the garden looks beautiful all year round. Pots and statues will be dotted around to add interest and colour.
There will be benching for the family should the patient wish to go outside in their bed, or to give people some space away from the room should they need it. A water feature will be placed in the corner to add calming noise as well as visual beauty to the space.
The charity researched the layout of the hospital before choosing a garden.
Sally said: “We looked very carefully into where we positioned this garden. The hospital is a busy place so we looked into what rooms surrounded the garden and the footfall in the corridor running alongside to ensure we could keep noise to a minimum. The chapel is nearby our chosen space too, which we know will offer comfort to many people”.
Anyone interested in supporting the appeal or providing plants for the garden or items for the room should contact Sally Daniels on 01284 713466 or email her on sally.daniels@wsh.nhs.uk.
