Who we are

Everyone involved with the charity – be they trustees, administrative staff or volunteers – are expected to be:

• Compassionate
• Respectful
• Professional
• Inclusive

They will treat others with respect, dignity and without discrimination. Information will be kept in the strictest confidence; in particular, information concerning a patient’s condition or circumstances will not be disclosed or discussed with anyone outside Hospiscare. Discussions with others which may be interpreted as critical of staff or volunteers are avoided.

All of us recognise that we are working alongside vulnerable adults and/or young people and have a shared responsibility to protect their welfare. Any concerns will be immediately reported in accordance with our safeguarding policy.

A number of Policies have been adopted to ensure that these Values are maintained, including a Code of Behaviour and Safeguarding Policy.

Since our original foundation in 1983, we have significantly extended our services and work closely with Hospiscare to serve our local community.

Our charity was originally founded in 1983 under the name of Care of the Terminally Ill (COTI) and registered by the Charities Commission on 20 August 1984.

We will be celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2024.

Volunteer visits into patients’ homes were established in 1984 and the first AGM was held on 27 November 1985 when our name was changed to Budleigh Salterton & District Hospiscare. A Macmillan nurse employed by Hospiscare started on 1 September 1986 and initial grants from the National Society for Cancer Relief helped to pay her salary for the first 3 years. A hugely energetic fundraising effort was made to reach the initial target total of £100,000 to fund her costs afterwards.
Since then, our fundraising efforts and volunteer activities have continued and we have gone from strength to strength. In June 2015, the Charity Commission granted us CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) status, enabling us to adopt a modern constitution and governance.

The Hospiscare@Home service, extending the existing Nurse Specialist service to hands-on nursing care in the patient’s own home, launched in June 2017.

The management and administration of the charity is governed by a board of trustees, all of whom live in the local area and who meet on a regular basis throughout the year.

Our Trustees are:

• Martin Briggs – Chairman
• Margaret Alexander – Volunteer Co-ordinator
• Jeremy Browne – Past Chairman
• Gordon Cameron – Marketing
• Sue Hudson – Nursing liaison
• Peter Julian – Secretary
• Jean Ketterer – Fundraising
• Andrew Spear – Treasurer

We have three members of staff who are responsible for day-to-day administration and they are supported by various volunteers.
Nina Parnell and Claire Jones are joint Fundraising & Support Managers. They are responsible for organising fundraising events, volunteer support and general administration of our office at Seachange in Budleigh Salterton. You can reach them at 01395 445876.
Jill Beacham administers our patient records.
They are ably assisted by a number of volunteers, in particular our Volunteer Co-ordinator, Margaret Alexander.
To contact our office, please see our Contact Us page
Nursing services are administered by Hospiscare at Highview Gardens, Exmouth – they can be contacted on info@hospiscare.co.uk and 01392 688040.