A colourful flutter of butterfly sculptures recently took over Worcester to create a memorable celebration garden for a county hospice.
One thousand hand-crafted butterflies floated around St Andrew’s Spire in Worcester between August 13th and 29 August raising funds for St Richard’s Hospice.
The unique display of beautiful butterflies followed the success of the charity’s previous Celebration Gardens of forget-me-nots, snowdrops, dragonflies and bees. Each butterfly was individually commissioned from craftsman Ed Alvis, of Metal Art UK, at his workshop near Evesham.
People were encouraged to celebrate and remember loved ones or mark a special occasion by donating for a butterfly, which they could then take home as a keepsake or a gift.
Donations to help create this sculpture installation helped to fund St Richard’s care of patients, their loved ones and bereaved people across Worcestershire.
Donors were invited to collect a butterfly from The Spire or from the hospice after the display has come to an end.
The butterfly creator, Ed Alvis, is well known from his appearances on television’s Scrap Kings for the Quest channel and has a personal connection with the hospice. His father was cared for at home by St Richard’s during a short illness before he died in 2013.
His second year supporting the hospice Celebration Garden, Ed felt creating the butterflies was another opportunity to show his gratitude for that help.
Celebration Garden was kindly sponsored by Blue Print Direct Mail Limited and supported by Metal Art UK.
———————————-
St Richard’s Hospice cares for adults with a serious progressive illness, improving their quality of life from diagnosis, during treatment and to their last days. It also supports their loved ones.
Each year the hospice team supports more than 3,100 patients, family members and bereaved people in Worcestershire.
It costs £8.75m to run the hospice (20/21 audited accounts), which includes patient care and all the necessary support services.
St Richard’s is an independent charity and relies on donations and gifts in Wills for the majority of its income with the remainder funded by the NHS.
For more information about St Richard’s Hospice visit www.strichards.org.uk
Who does St Richard’s Hospice care for?
St Richard’s cares for people with a serious progressive illness who have complex needs which cannot be met by other services. These include cancer, and neurological, respiratory, cardiac and renal conditions.
All its services are available to people registered with a South Worcestershire GP. The St Richard’s In-patient Unit cares for people across Worcestershire.
St Richard’s cares for people by:
- early involvement in the course of a person’s illness alongside other therapies that are intended to prolong life
- enabling people to manage their illness and remain independent for as long as possible
- helping people to control their pain and other worrying symptoms
- helping people with emotional, social, practical and spiritual issues
- supporting families and carers before and through bereavement
- working in partnership with other health care providers and organisations
- encouraging wider understanding that death is a part of life
- supporting the local community to be well informed about the care available to them
- supporting the health and social care workforce through education to provide high-quality, individualised care.
Where they care
St Richard’s offers free care and support for people in the hospice, in the community, in GP surgeries, at clinics or by telephone.
Leave a Reply