Melanie Stone

We are honoured that the daughters of Leon Crouch, Hannah Leonardi, Lara Crouch and Louise Roles have given a donation of £550,000 from The Leon Crouch Foundation to support the work of the Hospice. Continuing the unwavering support shown by their father throughout his lifetime.

Leon’s charitable work was well known and as Hannah Leonardi says ‘Even in death Leon was thinking about how he could continue to help the town that he grew up in and loved.’

‘Our father was a Patron of Oakhaven Hospice, which always remained a cause very close to his heart, therefore it was a fitting place for him to spend his last few days. It gives my sisters, Lara, Louise and I, great pleasure to make a donation to Oakhaven Hospice of £550,000 from the Leon Crouch Foundation so that Oakhaven may continue to touch the lives of so many local people. We feel incredibly proud of our Father’s commitment to helping others beyond his lifetime’

Andrew Ryde, Chief Executive said ‘We are incredibly grateful to Leon for his contribution to the Hospice, this generous donation will assist us with the expansion of our services. This funding will help towards increasing our bedded provision to ensure that we can continue to meet the need of the community for end-of-life support here at the hospice. As well as helping to develop a dedicated education facility to support carers and healthcare professionals to provide the best level of end-of-life care for all.’

Since this donation the family have pledged to a further donation of £300,000 to meet the gap in funding. Thereby allowing this expansion to take place.

Dr David Butler recently stepped down from the Board of Trustees after being a member since July 2013. Professor Paul Dodson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees presented David with a leaving gift on behalf of the Board and thanked him for his 9 years of service as a Trustee.
David worked with the team at Oakhaven on the Clinical Governance Group for many years and latterly as a Locum Consultant from late 2011 to 2014.
David’s expertise in palliative care has been of great value to the Board and we will miss his wisdom and friendship.
We wish David every happiness in his retirement.

 

 

Leon Crouch, a lifelong supporter of Oakhaven Hospice, sadly lost his life following a short battle with cancer in September 2019 surrounded by his loving family. A private, gentle man, Leon supported the Hospice in many ways but most publically as the sponsor of our Oakhaven Golf Day, competing on the day for the Fullers Cup.

Chief Executive Andrew Ryde said ‘Leon was deeply committed to the Hospice and has made a lasting impact on Oakhaven. We are so grateful that he included a gift in his will, his legacy will make a very real difference to those we care for both here in the hospice and out in homes across our community.’

Leon’s daughters Hannah Leonardi, Lara Crouch and Louise Rolls presented the cheque to Oakhaven in November at a special event where they were presented with an engraved leaf by Chairman of The Board of Trustees, Professor Paul Dodson and Patron, The Honourable Mary Montagu-Scott DL in honour their father’s contribution to the Hospice. Hannah Leonardi said ‘we are thrilled to be able to honour our fathers wishes and present Oakhaven with his legacy, which we hope will help others in the community who are in need of the specialist care that Oakhaven provides. We as a family are incredibly thankful for everything the Hospice did to support us and our beloved father’

1 in 4 of the individuals we support are cared for are because of gifts in wills. By making a gift in a will, you are committing to help in the future, to help local people, their families and loved ones who will need Oakhaven in years to come. If you feel this is something you are able to do please visit https://www.oakhavenhospice.co.uk/legacy/

The Honourable Mary Montagu-Scott DL became Patron of Oakhaven Hospice on 30 November 2021 and takes over from Lady Mary Fagan LG DCVO who has served in this role since the hospice’s early days. The appointment comes as Oakhaven commences the celebration of 30 years of providing specialist end of life care to those in the community it serves.

During Lady Mary Fagan’s patronage Oakhaven has grown substantially, evolving its services with community teams reaching out to support individuals within their own homes as well as our wellbeing services which offer support and advice to those affected by illness.

Andrew Ryde, Oakhaven’s Chief Executive says “we are so grateful for the years of support Lady Mary Fagan LG DCVO has given to Oakhaven and for suggesting Mary Montagu-Scott as her successor. I would like to express the gratitude of everyone at Oakhaven for the many years of support Lady Mary has given to the hospice.

As we approach the 30^th anniversary of the hospice, it is fitting the baton will be passed on to such a recognisable personality in the community. Mary Montagu-Scott brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role. As a well known figure in the region and champion of so many charitable causes, Oakhaven is delighted to have her accept such an important position.

As the baton is passed Lady Mary Fagan says “I cannot imagine anyone better than Mary Montagu-Scott to take over the reins, I have known her for many years and was delighted to suggest her for the role and even more pleased when she accepted”Mary Montagu-Scott says: “I am delighted to accept this role at such an exciting time. Oakhaven is going from strength to strength in reaching people and their families across the New Forest, Waterside and Totton communities. I am excited to see where Oakhaven goes next to help more people in need of care. Anything I can do to help will be an honour”

The recent rising levels of infection across our area have resulted in the need for additional beds in all our hospitals. To assist with this demand, Oakhaven in partnership with West Hants CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) will be opening four additional bedrooms to patients who are Covid negative and medically fit for discharge from acute hospitals, but who still require additional support.

Andrew Ryde, Chief Executive said ‘the last 12 months has been incredibly difficult and the fight goes on. There is light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccination programme being rolled out but there are a few more months until the pressure is reduced. It is essential that we support our community and our NHS colleagues during this time and by opening these beds we are helping to relieve some of the pressure currently faced by Hospitals.’

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic Oakhaven Hospice has worked hard to ensure that those within our community facing the end of life continue to receive our specialist support. Our 8 bedded unit has remained open, with Doctors, nurses and health care assistants adapting to the challenges of Covid and worked to find new ways of delivering care. Over the winter period capacity had already been increased to 10 beds but with this latest agreement we will now be providing 14 beds.

With restrictions on travel and limits placed on visiting times, many under our care have chosen to receive support at home surrounded by their families. Our community teams are working tirelessly to ensure that they are cared for, pain free and comfortable throughout their remaining days. Their expertise brings the specialist hospice care into people’s homes creating over 300 hospice beds across our community at any one time.

In order to manage the additional rooms at the Hospice, there will be an increased need for staff within the in-patient unit. Donna Wilkins, Director of People Services said ‘the level of support we have received has been phenomenal from our current staff, our wonderful volunteers, our ex colleagues as well as from qualified nurses who have picked up our plea on social media. So many people have expressed their desire to help, either with extra hours, volunteering, returning to work, or taking on additional duties to help the Hospice throughout this time. It is only with this support that we have been able to increase our bedded care.”

The hospice has faced a very challenging time during the pandemic with many of its income streams severely cut back in particular the closing of its shops during the lockdowns. Every month the hospice shops are closed is a loss of approximately £100,000 of income. In addition to this our inability to hold events and other fundraising initiatives has significantly cut back its income. The hospice is extremely grateful for the support the community shows in helping it provide its services.”