What a wonderful day we had at the Hospice on Friday 4^th June when her HRH, The Princess Royal visited to help us celebrate our 40^th Anniversary.  Unbeknownst to The Princess Royal there are a number of traditions associated with her visit which she doesn’t see!  In particular, we start the day with free bacon rolls for all the staff and throughout the day there is an ample supply of empire biscuits (a Hospice favourite!) this combined with the fact that much of the visit was conducted outside in the grounds created a lovely party atmosphere and gave staff a chance to meet up with each other as well – at a social distance.

All our COVID precautions were in place to make sure the visit was safe and so we were unable to welcome guests from out with the Hospice to join us.  The Princess Royal spent time meeting some of our team who had to work very differently as a result of the pandemic and heard about all the changes we have made.  She was very aware of the impact of shielding and self-isolation both in terms of how difficult this had been and also how difficult it is to emerge to a more normal life.  She clearly understood the pressure on both our staff and the many carers out in the community and how different the last year has been.  As usual The Princess Royal met individual patients in the 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.