St Teresa’s Hospice patients receiving care in comfort thanks to £3,500 OnPath Energy treatment chair grant 

Patients at a Darlington hospice are receiving their care in greater comfort thanks to a four-figure grant from a local renewable energy firm.

St Teresa’s Hospice provides palliative and end-of-life care and support to people with life-limiting illnesses across Darlington, South Durham and the surrounding areas, with an aim to provide the best possible care to those who need it.

The Hospice uses specialist reclining chairs at their Woodlands Road premises, which allow for alternating pressure relief meaning patients can have greater comfort.

And after receiving a £3,500 grant from the community fund linked to OnPath Energy’s nearby Moor House Wind Farm, the Hospice has been able to add another reclining chair to its Inpatient Unit.

Founded in 1986, St Teresa’s Hospice is an independent charity, supporting more than 1,000 people each year through a range of services.

Alongside Inpatient Care, the Hospice provides a Community Hospice Team, a Family Support Team, Specialist Bereavement Care, Complementary Therapies and the Woodlands Wellbeing Hub.

“The care and support provided by the team at St Teresa’s Hospice has a huge impact to the quality of life that hundreds of families across the local community get to experience at the most difficult of times.

St Teresa’s Hospice needs to raise over £3m a year to provide their core services free of charge to those who need them. The majority of those funds come through the kind support it receives from its community through fundraising efforts and grants.

Diane Goodwin, Trusts and Grants Manager at St Teresa’s Hospice, says: “Providing patients with a comfortable place to spend time is a small but essential part of the package of care we offer those who visit the Hospice.

“Our existing reclining chairs have been extremely well used over the last few years and allow patients to be in a much more comfortable position than an ordinary chair can offer.

“We’ve become increasingly aware that the chairs we have are showing their age and we have been looking at ways to replace them as we know just how important these unassuming chairs are to patient wellbeing.

“It’s an expensive piece of equipment, but one that we know will make a real difference to the quality of care for the people spending time in our Inpatient Unit. We’re hugely grateful for OnPath Energy for enabling us to make another new reclining chair available to them.”

Robin Winstanley, sustainability and community director at OnPath Energy (formerly Banks Renewables), adds: “The care and support provided by the team at St Teresa’s Hospice has a huge impact to the quality of life that hundreds of families across the local community get to experience at the most difficult of times.

“The Moor House Wind Farm fund was specifically designed to deliver tangible benefits into the local community, and we’re very glad to be using revenues generated by the wind farm to support such an invaluable local charity.”

Environmental and community projects in the vicinity of the Moor House Wind Farm which are interested in applying to its Community Fund should first contact the fund manager via apply@onpathcommunityfund.co.uk or on 0191 378 6342 to confirm that their group or project is eligible.