Coventry Myton Hospice has featured on BBC One programme Morning Live after presenter Rav Wilding and a team of producers visited the hospice to talk to patients, families and volunteers about the Hospice Biography service; Stories for Life.
For a number of years The Myton Hospices has been offering patients the opportunity to record their life story for their loved ones to listen to when they are no longer here. Myton volunteer Tania West has been recording with patients for a number of years and when the BBC heard about the service they wanted to come and find out more.
Rav who lost his Dad during the Covid-19 pandemic was extremely moved by what he heard and said he wished he had some recordings of his Dad. He urged people to record messages with their loved ones before it’s too late.
Emma Poole, aged 42, was interviewed by Rav for the TV programme. Emma has a terminal cancer diagnosis and is an inpatient at Coventry Myton Hospice. Emma has recorded messages with Tania for her four children aged 6 to 22 years to listen to when she has died. Emma said: “I will miss milestones like weddings and proms and I want my children to be able to listen to messages from me on those occasions.”
Tania has also recorded with Bill Kerrigan, aged 84, another inpatient at Coventry Myton Hospice. Bill and his granddaughter Jess spoke to Rav and appeared on the show. Jess has already listened to her grandads recording and told Rav how emotional it made her hearing his stories.
Ruth Freeman, CEO for The Myton hospices said: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to shine a spotlight on the wonderful work that we do at Myton and to help raise awareness of hospices in general. We are incredibly grateful to Rav and the team at the BBC, and most importantly to Emma, Bill, Jess and Tania for sharing their stories.”
The Morning Live programme aired on BBC One on Tuesday 14th June at 9.15am and can be watched on iPlayer.
To find out more about the services Myton provides for people living with terminal illnesses and their families, visit www.mytonhospice/.org/services
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Picture captions:
Rav Wilding with nurses at Coventry Myton Hospice
Rav Wilding with Myton patient, Emma Poole
Rav Wilding with Myton patient Bill Kerrigan’s granddaughter Jess
About The Myton Hospices
At The Myton Hospices we believe that everyone matters for every single moment of their life; we focus on enhancing life when cure is no longer an option.
We have three hospices in Coventry, Rugby and Warwick, and have the only Inpatient beds in Coventry and Warwickshire. We care for people living with a wide range of terminal illnesses including Respiratory conditions, Heart conditions, Cancer, Organ failure and Neurological conditions. We also provide support for their loved ones.
We are a charity and we have to raise £9.1 million of the £11.6 million we need this year to continue providing our services free of charge. Just 20% of our funding comes from the NHS. We rely on donations and support from our local communities.
Last year, despite the ongoing challenges of Covid-19 which limited our ability to offer some of our services, we supported over 1,500 people and their families, in our hospices, via our patient & family support services, and in the community through Myton at Home.
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