In 2007 Andrew Reynolds made his first donation to the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham. The money was used to set up a ‘Clinical Nurse Specialist’ (CNS) team.
This gives the hospice nurses who go out and treat patients in their homes within the local community. They provide specialist palliative care services to patients and their families for as long as possible.
The CNS team set up with Andrew Reynolds funding, also provides CNS support for Nursing Homes and GPs District Nurses all with the aim of increasing the ‘end of life’ skills for clinical staff who already work in the local community.
Securing funding and recruiting staff for posts had initially been major obstacles in getting the project up and running.
When Andrew Reynolds stepped in with the offer to finance the running of one of the CNS Teams for 3 years in 2007 at just over £56,000 a year, the money was used to provide a vehicle and equipment such as Laptops, mobile phones etc, to provide direct funding for a CNS Team.
Because this CNS Team was so successful, in its first 3 years, Andrew Reynolds offered to continue funding for a further 3years.
Andrew Reynolds has now pledged a further £185,000 to the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice over the next 3 years. This latest donation by Andrew Reynolds will continue to help fund the on-going community CNS team that the hospice provide.
Andrew Reynolds has nothing but words of praise for the work being done by the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice. Andrew says, “What is really special about the PTH is the fact that they offer such amazing care. Their facilities are of the highest standard and on my first visit I was struck by how ‘un hospice’ it felt – the whole place had a warm friendly feel and everywhere you looked were home comforts.
When I met the staff and patients you couldn’t help to notice how high the standard of care was – I was genuinely bowled over by how the whole organization had exceeded my expectations.”
As Andrew Reynolds said later, “The success of the CNS Team in its first 3 years and the positive impact it has had on not only the local community but also further outreaching to existing care services offering further support and education, proves what a worthy initiative this was and I am extremely happy to continue funding this much needed community nursing team for the next 3 years.”