8:00am Saturday 17th November 2007
By Emily Walker
GENEROUS people from Swindon and beyond have dug deep to help Prospect@Home raise more than £200,000.
The Advertiser launched the appeal last November to raise £250,000 for a scheme which will see nurses giving palliative care to people in their own homes 24 hours a day.
In the last year hundreds of people have held fundraisers to help the charity reach its target.
The Wroughton hospice said the milestone fundraising achievement meant home nursing care should be available to people in the area next year.
Val Chalk, 66, of Park South, is suffering from terminal bone cancer. She visits Prospect for respite care every couple of months and said she thought the excellent staff at the hospice were the reason she has beaten doctors' predictions on how long she will live.
"Prospect isn't somewhere to die, it is somewhere to get a reason for carrying on living," she said.
"Prospect@Home will be an excellent facility for patients who want to spend their last days in familiar surroundings with their family around them.
"I am very impressed by everything people have done to help and hopefully they will all carry on.
"I am really, really pleased to hear that the appeal has got this far.
"There has been a lot of excited discussion about it amongst the patients here and I know they are all just as pleased as me."
Val, who was first diagnosed with cancer 18 years ago and is now battling her eighth bout of the disease, said she owed her life to staff at Prospect.
"I think Prospect is absolutely responsible for keeping me battling on," she said.
"I look forward to coming in and can really feel the difference.
"I know when I'm feeling tired and need to come in."
Sue Pracy, the senior nurse at the hospice, said: "We are delighted that the community has reached this fantastic target, and hope we can push on to get Prospect@Home up and running."
Prospect spokesman Andrew Thompson thanked all the fundraisers who have helped.
"We can only take it as an indication that the community supports the service we want to provide," he said.
"We always have a sense that people are appreciative of what we do here.
"Families often say the hospice is a wonderful place, but know their loved one would have preferred to be cared for at home.
"Prospect@Home is about offering patients a choice when they are at their most vulnerable.
"It will also give us the chance to care for more people. We have 14 beds here and they are always in demand.
"Reaching £200,000 means plans are well under way for the launch next year."
Read all about our Prospect@Home campaign.
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