Saint Francis Hospice has reached 40 years since opening its doors in July 1984 — and one fundraiser has explained her part in getting the ball rolling.
A GP receptionist had to look up the word “hospice” when she was asked by one of the doctors she worked for in Harold Hill to help start the fundraising.
Today, Saint Francis serves a population of around one million across east London and Essex, housed in the former great manor hall in Havering-atte-Bower.
And it’s all thanks to volunteers like Pauline Obee who helped start the ball rolling back in 1979.
Pauline was receptionist at the Harold Hill surgery in 1979 when the idea of a hospice was almost unheard of.
“I had to look up the word to find out what it meant,” she admits.
“The doctors at the surgery were trying to get a hospice off the ground and one asked if I would help.
“They arranged the first public meeting at the Harold Hill Community Centre and I was given a bucket to hold for our first collection as people left.
“It seems I became an accidental fundraiser! But it became a way of life for me, a project I could never say goodbye to.”
At the time, only St Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney could provide palliative care. But it didn’t have capacity to include Havering and the surrounding areas. Saint Francis was to fill that gap across east London.
A Friends of the Hospice group was set up, meeting in people’s houses, before they raised enough to buy Havering Hall, from then on working from an upstairs room in the cold sending out leaflets.
They started getting envelopes with coins wrapped in newspaper, then organised swimming competitions, garden parties, visiting schools, nightclubs, pubs and organisations.
Pauline's husband Arthur was an accomplished pianist, so there was entertainment for their fundraising events.
Their first annual May Fayre was in the grounds of the hospice in 1981 before building work started.
“It was such a hit,” Pauline recalls. “But my dreams of doing it every year were crushed once the builders moved in.”
Even so, they got permission to hold the May Fayre on The Green opposite where people could see the hospice taking shape.
The idea came from an earlier venture dreamed up by Pauline for a “carpet of coins” laid outside a church in Romford where passers-by added their own money.
That led to the Golden Mile of newly-minted £1 coins laid out around Havering Town Hall.
It took months of planning. But Pauline’s husband was also a mathematician who worked out exactly how many £1 coins were needed, laid out in the car-park. It raised £71,652 in a single day.
It was ironic that years later the hospice was able to comfort Pauline in the days before Arthur died in 2014 after being diagnosed with a tumour.
“We had a good year and then the tumour took hold,” Pauline remembers. “Arthur was cared for at home for ten days before he died and it made a huge difference.
“The nurse caring for him stepped away so I could say goodbye. She came back with a peony from our garden and laid it on Arthur’s pillow.
“It was a simple gesture but so important because Arthur loved his garden and she had brought a piece of it to him.”
The hospice in its first year cared for just 208 patients in the ward. Since then, it has expanded to provide professional care at the hospice and in the community.
Community nurses have looked after 1,238 people at home in the last 12 months alone.
The Hospice at Home service made almost 5,000 home visits in the past year, helping people to manage their symptoms. Bereavement counselling was given to 618 adults and 87 children.
Its chief executive Grazina Berry said: “The need for hospice care is growing. We forecast around 25 per cent more people will need end-of-life care by 2048.”
The catchment area for Saint Francis takes in Havering and the neighbouring London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge, as well as Brentwood and other parts of West Essex.
An army of 655 volunteers runs its charity shops, helps in the ward and maintains the gardens and offices. It saves the hospice at least £1m a year in salaries with their time and experience.
Only a third of running costs comes from the NHS. Fundraisers like Pauline need to find the rest, around £8.5m, through donations, gifts in wills and events like the Golden Mile.
The hospice's Orange Line confidential phone service has helped 614 people with more than 2,600 calls since 2023, which is for anyone needing support or feeling isolated. The Orange Line is on 01708 758649.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here