GIVING the town council an insight into how the first year of The Long House, in Holsworthy, has gone, two representatives from the North Devon Hospice gave a detailed presentation.

Stephen Roberts, chief executive of North Devon Hospice, and Claire Sherwood, community and events fundraiser, attended the full meeting of the council in December, to explain what The Long Hospice is providing the town and how it has operated through its first year.

Mayor Jon Hutchings welcomed Mr Roberts and Ms Sherwood to the meeting and opened up the floor for them to give their presentation.

Mr Roberts began: “Huge thanks to you all for allowing us to give a presentation, I want to give the council an update on how it has all gone in this first year. I fully recognise and am aware of the misconception that surrounds The Long House. People driving past us say ‘it looks empty’, and that ‘it is not being used’. This really is a white elephant; I can assure you we are being used. We are actually open every day except Mondays and have helped well over 150, and not just with care but with education too.”

The Long House is dedicated to providing those with terminal cancer and life limiting illnesses care, but also a chance to relax and for both themselves and family members to talk about their own worries and feelings, which can sometimes be bottled up and not expressed.

Many of the people who visit The Long House are referred by their GP. However, Mr Roberts said: “Uniquely for us, and we didn’t expect this, we have had people turning up to the front door saying they or their husband, wife or partner have terminal cancer — can they get support from us.

“We will never turn someone away, and even though we do need patients to be referred to us by their GP in these cases we have been known to track down a GP and speak with them to ensure a referral is made.”

Addressing concerns that The Long House is taking away patients from the Holsworthy Community Hospital, Mr Roberts said: “From the outset we have remained shoulder to shoulder with Holsworthy’s hospital. I believe it is the best Community Hospital in Devon. We have been asked, ‘why didn’t you want to put beds in The Long House?’. Simply that is not what we are about. We do not want to give that clinical feel; we are there for support and education.”

The Long House has been able to offer a service to the people of Holsworthy, that they would previously have had to travel up to Barnstaple to receive. Having the hospice’s facilities on their doorstep, people in Holsworthy with life-limiting illnesses or their family members are able to access these services more readily.

Mr Roberts said: “We have been overwhelmed with how much unmet need there was in Holsworthy and I have to say we have looked after and supported more children here than we have up at Deer Park in Barnstaple and we are proud of that.”

When asked what sort of care The Long House has been providing, Mr Roberts said: “We hold a number of patient groups where people can come and just be. Those with terminal cancer will normally put on a brave face for family and pretend everything is fine. We give them a chance to be themselves and confront what is worrying them.

“We also offer post and pre bereavement support for the family, on-going care, art therapy — which is a huge part of what we do and many find therapeutic — and we also offer people support when trying to understand often complicated medical terminology.”

One councillor asked whether someone who, for example, lost a family member due to terminal cancer three years ago would be eligible for the support of The Long House.

Mr Roberts said in response: “Absolutely, sometimes the bereavement process can take a while to kick in. Not everyone grieves in the same way, for some it is straight away, for others there can be a delay of weeks, months or even years. Anyone who is dealing with the lose of someone through terminal cancer are welcome.”

Mr Roberts then passed over to Ms Sherwood so she could explain more about how the council and others could get involved and help the hospice’s facility survive.

Ms Sherwood, who is dedicated to the Holsworthy area for community and events fundraising, began by giving the council a few examples of the responses from people who have used The Long House in its first year.

She said: “It is all well and good us telling you what we think about The Long House. One of the responses that really struck me the most was from a lady called Anita, who was a carer for her husband. She made a comparison between the two things keeping her going, which was her grandson and The Long House — which is quite a powerful comparison!”

Ms Sherwood went on to tell the council about some of services and groups The Long House are offering, including the latest ‘Butterfly group’, which was set up by Rev Christopher Penn. The group allows people to meet in a neutral environment and talk about their feelings and experiences. Those who join don’t have to be religious and the group will tackle any bereavement issues, not just those surrounding terminal illness.

Ms Sherwood concluded the presentation by informing the council of the North Devon Hospice’s plan to set up a ‘Friends’ group for The Long House.

She said: “We are hoping to set up a Friends group, but we are lacking volunteers. I know many of you [the council] have joined in and helped out and we are very grateful for that.

“It cost £60,000 a year to keep The Long House open and we need people to know what it takes to provide the services we do. We want to give a massive thanks to you all, we are for the community and we couldn’t do it without you.”