THE North Devon Hospice’s facility in Holsworthy, The Long House, celebrated its first birthday on Friday, September 23, with a cake cutting ceremony.

Members of the local council were in attendance along with users of the service and members of the public.

Two sisters, Lisa Stanton and Steph Watts, who have previously received support from the care team at the hospice’s centre while their mother was living with a life-limiting illness, cut a birthday cake in aid of the building’s birthday.

Also in attendance on the day was the mayor of Holsworthy Jon Hutchings. He commented on how important he thinks The Long House has been for the town and surrounding areas: “It is a great community asset and is really good for local people.

“I think it is great to know, despite what local rumours have said, that it is being used. I said to Stephen Roberts [chief executive of North Devon Hospice] we need to communicate this to the town to let them know it is being used and that it is here for them too.

“They have really exceeded expectations here and have proved that this was a needed facility in the town.”

Chairman of the board of trustees at North Devon Hospice, Kevin Underwood, said: “We are delighted that The Long House has just turned one. What was most important for us was that it became a part of the community.

“However, we always wanted this to be a two way street and we really appreciate all the support we have received from the community whether it is through donations or advice on how we can improve.”

Before the hospice set up their service in Holsworthy they spoke to people already using the one in Barnstaple. Many said that the service did not meet their needs due to such a long journey time in order to receive care.

For those dealing with a life-limiting illness a bit of relaxation, provided at these hospices, is vital — however a stressful journey to and from a hospice can reduce treatments’ effectiveness.

Mr Underwood added: “I live in Barnstaple and even for me, a well person travelling on a nice sunny day, it was a difficult and uncomfortable journey. It is so important for us not only to reach out to people in the Holsworthy area because we have to, but because we want to provide them with the best possible service we can, closer to home.

“We want to get people to connect with us so we can improve our service and overall just help people to live!”

Speaking about the services The Long House has offered during its first year Charlie Bond, a hospice counsellor, said: “We offer a variety of services, our main aim is to be here to support families and make them aware of their loved ones’ wishes.

“We offer pamper days once a month for people to come along and get their hair cut, have a facial or even a massage. We are able to provide all this here in our specialist facilities and give those with a life-limiting illness a chance to relax and be pampered.

“We also offer both creative or more structured work, which gives visitors a framework in which to talk about future plans — the things we would find difficult to bring up in normal conversation with loved ones.

“Overall, we try and help people to live well now and to make the best of every day.”

Supportive care team member Mandy Redgrove showed the Post the facilities that The Long House has to offer. She said: “Basically, in our first year we have been offering families who are coping with a loved one with a life-limiting illness support and a chance to talk.

“We help them through it and try to improve the quality of life a patient has — mainly we aim to provide them with an enjoyable time where they are able to just be themselves instead of having to put a brave face on.”

The team at The Long House often works with the families and younger children of a person who is affected by a life-limiting illness.

Young children often have worries of their own about a family member and the team provides them with an opportunity to express these feelings with the creation of ‘worry dolls’.

Ms Redgrove added: “We have an activity where the children and older family members can make ‘worry dolls’.

“Basically, they make these dolls and are then able to tell them their worries. The doll is placed under their pillow so that while the child sleeps the doll can take on and think about their worries so they don’t have to.

“It is great as it gets families talking about what is concerning them, which can really help them cope with the situation and can allow them to support each other more effectively.”

Alongside this The Long House offers one-to-one sessions with a trained counsellor, this gives people with life-limiting illnesses a chance to speak about their worries.

The support people have received at The Long House during its first year has proved to be invaluable.

One family, who has previously received support from The Long House was invited along on its celebratory open day.

Sisters Lisa Stanton and Steph Watts, were asked to cut the birthday cake for The Long House.

They have received a lot of support from The Long House team in the past year while their mother was going through cancer treatment.

Lisa said: “Last year our mum was diagnosed with having a tumour. We have received a lot of support from The Long House and it has been great.

“They provided mum with head massages and other treatments whilst she was going through treatment and they also provided us, our dad and the grandchildren with support.

“They were great for dad, he really got into the arts and crafty stuff and was always making things like cards, paintings and even Christmas wreaths.

“They have also been great in providing support and activities for the younger members of our family too like the grandchildren who are all aged one through to five. They helped them create things like memory boxes and family handprints — which has become quite a famous story for the mess we made.”

Speaking on the building itself Lisa said: “It was great because there is all this big open space for the children. We’ve not got facilities like this at home — they loved it here.”

The sisters will soon be taking on the ‘Mission Unbreakable’ challenge, which will see them run a 10k race.

Lisa said: “So far for us the training has been non existent but I did it last year so I’m sure I will be fine, well, hopefully. We will take on a 10k run, which contains obstacles like rivers, nets and mud — we are ‘so excited’.”

To support Lisa and Steph in their fundraising efforts visit Lisa’s JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Lisa-Stanton2706 or Steph’s at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Steph-Watts3

To find out how to support the care being provided at The Long House, visit www.northdevonhospice.org.uk or call 01271 347232.

To find out how to access care and support from North Devon Hospice at The Long House, speak to a GP and ask for a referral.