Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal was given a warm welcome when she visited Strathcarron Hospice on Friday 20 June.
The Princess Royal – a familiar face at the Hospice – met with CEO of the Hospice Mags McCarthy, Stirling and Falkirk Lord Lieutenant Colonel Charles Wallace, Deputy Lieutenant of Stirling and Falkirk and Trustee of Strathcarron Hospice Mrs Baljit Dhillon, Falkirk Council Provost Robert Bissett, Police Scotland Local Police Commander of Forth Valley Division Superintendent Roddy Irvine and Chair of the Hospice Council of Management Chris Rodger.
Her Royal Highness then toured the Hospice spending time chatting with staff, volunteers, supporters and patients on the ward.
In Strathcarron’s 44-year history HRH The Princess Royal has visited the Hospice 38 times since her first visit in 1982.
During the visit The Princess Royal spoke with the Hospice Specialist Lymphoedema team about their wide ranging work and also to someone who has recently benefitted from this life changing service.
Hospice CEO Mags McCarthy, said: “We are delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal for her annual visit. There has been a great buzz about the place as we eagerly anticipated her arrival and we are very grateful for the time she devotes to staff, volunteers, supporters, patients and families.
“The Princess Royal met individual patients in our Inpatient Unit in private and each patient will receive a photograph of their meeting with her. We know that these become cherished family mementos of a lovely day.
“We are grateful for the devotion Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal has shown the Hospice over the years. It has been much appreciated.”
Care and services right across our communities and within the 24 bedded ward in the Hospice are provided by 243 staff with support from hundreds of volunteers who contributed over 100,000 hours of volunteering 2023-24.
The largest independent Hospice in Scotland, Strathcarron provides essential services for patients with life-limiting conditions (including end-of-life care) for patients living in Forth Valley and Cumbernauld and Kilsyth in North Lanarkshire.
In 2024-25 the Hospice provided care for 331 patients in our 24 patient bedded unit and also supported 1802 new patients at home including care from our Community Nurse Specialists, Hospice at Home, Live Your Life, Rehabilitation and Bereavement Teams.
The Hospice has to raise £19,452 daily to provide the specialist end of life care and services to individuals and their families across its communities.
Her Royal Highness was introduced to individuals and representatives of organisations who have supported the Hospice throughout the past year. This included:
Hospice Volunteers:
Bill & Jane Conway
Lynn Hunter
Phyllis Hall
Ronnie Bergen – Can Collector
Fundraising Supporters:
Joanna McCulloch and Andrew Baxter Central FM
Molly Parsons, MBE and Fiona Downs, Strathcarron Singers
Tony Harris, Wellsfield Fishery
Colin Thomson and Rhea Fairclough, XPS Pension Firm, Stirling
Chief Officers IJB’s:
Ross McGuffie, Chief Executive, NHS Forth Valley
Joanna MacDonald, Interim Chief Officer/ Director, Clackmannanshire & Stirling IJB
Good Grief Bereavement Support Group:
Christina Hopkins
Christine McCrindle
Moira Aherne
Helen Dall
Alexandra Prested
HRH also met with members of the Council of Management:
Mrs Nicola Rae
Mr Paul Hinds
Mrs Julie McVicar
Mrs Margaret McMullan
——————
We support people across Forth Valley, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth living with a life limiting condition. We help to make every moment count for patients and their families, so that they can live well with their illness and make the most of the time they have, and when the time comes, to die well.
Strathcarron Hospice needs to raise around £19,452 a day to provide all their services, which are free to those who use them across our local communities.
As well as In-patient and Hospice@Home care, our highly skilled multidisciplinary teams include Nursing teams, Patient and Family Support (social work), Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Pharmacist, Chaplains, Complementary Therapists, Consultants in Palliative Medicine and Specialty Doctors.
As a charity, Strathcarron Hospice is funded by the people we serve. They walk, run, cycle, jump, bake and go to many other amazing efforts to fundraise for their local Hospice. Strathcarron simply cannot continue delivering our valuable services free of charge, without the ongoing support of our communities.
With only one third of our hospice funded by the Government, we are incredibly grateful to our generous supporters who make up the significant shortfall.
The princess royal is a truly dedicated member of the royal family. She is selfless . Always committed to her many charities and causes. God bless her