St Columba’s: Music and Movement Project for people with Parkinson’s

Are you living with Parkinson’s Disease?

Would you be interested in trying out how music and movement sessions can provide valuable social interactions as well as strengthen movement coordination, promote confidence & prevent falls?

Then this project might be for you!

@StColumbas

Demystifying Death Week

Demystifying Death Week, 10 – 16 May, is about giving people knowledge, skills & opportunities to plan & support each other through death, dying, loss & care.

@StColumbas will be taking part in the Week’s activities.

St Columba’s Hospice Care is pleased to be supporting Demystifying Death Week (10-16 May), shining a light on death, dying and bereavement in Scotland.

Demystifying Death Week is about giving people knowledge, skills and opportunities to plan and support each other through death, dying, loss and care. Here in Scotland, the Week is organised by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief as part of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC) and it runs in parallel to Dying Matters week in England.

“If people know a bit more about death and dying, they’re in a better position to take control of their own situation, support others, make plans and have informed decisions about what they’d want when the time comes,” said Rebecca Patterson, Director of Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief.

At St Columba’s, our Supportive Care and Compassionate Communities teams and wider Hospice community will be engaging with Demystifying Death Week through supporting and taking part in the programme of activities. We wanted to share these with you in case you would like to sign up for any of the events too.

Here are some of the workshops and webinars available:

Unexpected Consequences: A Webinar on Bereavement: Tuesday 11 May, 13:30 to 15:15

Topics:

  • People dying at home during Covid (Dr Jan Savinc, Napier University)
  • How disenfranchised grief has been affected by Covid-19 (Paul Parsons, Adult Bereavement Coordinator for St Christopher’s Hospice)
  • Digital Accessibility and the impact on grief (Donna Hastings, Child and Families Worker for St Columba’s Hospice Care, Edinburgh)

Find out more

Loss & the Creative Arts: Music, Poetry & other Arts as Expression of Grief: Thursday 13 May 2021, 13:00 to 15:00

This is an event for Dying Matters Week, chaired by Professor Lynne Gabriel and Dr John Wilson of York St John University Counselling and Mental Health Centre, who will introduce the work of (in alphabetical order):

  • Laura Fitton, Nursing sister and published poet who works with Covid19 on the NHS front line
  • Kev Fitzpatrick, singer songwriter,
  • Sioux Hill, bereaved by Covid, singer with the Alone Together Choir
  • Mick Jenkinson. singer songwriter and published poet
  • Liam Meyer NHS worker and founder of the Alone Together Choir, as seen on BBC News
  • Sarah Villeneau, ceramicist whose work is both beautiful and macabre

The event will be of interest to those who are grieving and anyone who works with death, dying, bereavement and grief, including counsellors, bereavement supporters and volunteers who are interested in working more creatively. The event will include a question and answer session.

Find out more

You may also be interested in accesssing a series of free webinars offered by Child Bereavement UK for professionals working with children and young people in Scotland:

Access free webinars

Find out more about Demystifying Death Week via the Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief website here:

Access information

Please find more info on our website: https://stcolumbashospice.org.uk/news/

Scottish artist goes the extra acre for St Columba’s

An exhibition by a renowned Scottish artist is to take place in a Goldenacre charity bookshopJohn F Martin painting

John F Martin, whose work is held in collections all over the world, will display a collection of his paintings at the St Columba’s Hospice bookshop on Montagu Terrace in Goldenacre this week. Continue reading Scottish artist goes the extra acre for St Columba’s

Hands up for St Columba’s!

St Columba’s calls for new volunteers

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St Columba’s Hospice is calling on the community to put their hands up and become a volunteer to help overcome an urgent shortage in volunteering support when the Hospice returns to it’s original Boswalll Road home in Trinity this Spring.

The Hospice relies on a team of over 500 volunteers to deliver vital services such as transporting patients from their homes to the Day Hospice, arranging flowers to brighten the patient wards and working in the café to provide refreshments to visiting families and friends.

St Columba’s Hospice has vacancies across all volunteering areas, but particularly needs volunteers for the new Café areas, one of which will be open 12 hours per day, seven days per week. There are currently a number of slots available, each lasting about 3 hours per week or fortnight. Previous experience of working in this area would be desirable.

There are also midweek daytime volunteer opportunities in our Ward area. So if you think you could play a part in the history of St Columba’s Hospice and offer some of your time as a volunteer, our Volunteer Services Team will be delighted to hear from you.

Bill Kerr, Volunteer Services Manager said: “Volunteers have always been an important part of St Columba’s Hospice; in fact, we were founded by them back in 1977! This is an opportunity for volunteers to join us at one of the most exciting times in our history.

“We provide full training for all volunteers and we have lots of social gatherings and events to thank volunteers for their contribution. If you’ve ever thought about volunteering then please get in touch with us, even if you can only spare a couple of hours every fortnight we’d love to hear from you.

“Volunteering is a great way to meet people, learn new skills and of course, help support a local charity like St Columba’s Hospice. There is a huge feeling of excitement and anticipation as we prepare to return to our new purpose-build Hospice, so there’s never been a better time to volunteer.”

To find out more about becoming a volunteer for St Columba’s Hospice

call the Volunteer Services Team on 0131 551 7711

or email vol@stcolumbashospice.org.uk.

Get your votes in: Sainsbury’s seeks local charity partner

Local residents in North Edinburgh have the chance to find Sainsbury’s Blackhall a new local charity to support. It’s the fifth year of the retailer’s ‘Local Charity partner’ initiative, which gives local registered charities the chance to receive a year’s worth of fundraising and awareness support from store colleagues.

Customers and colleagues at Sainsbury’s Blackhall have played a big part in the success of the Local Charity partner initiative. Last year, their generous donations helped to raise £ 6,487.00 for St Columba’s Hospice.

Louise Stirton, Senior Fundraising Manager at  St Columba’s Hospice (pictured below with Sainsbury colleagues) said: “Working with Sainsbury’s Blackhall over the last twelve months has made such a difference to our cause. They have raised a fantastic amount of money which we are putting towards our new building.  A big thank you to all the staff and customers for their generosity.”

There are even more ways to vote this year. Alongside nomination forms and a drop-in box, now available in-store, customers can , for the first time, nominate online – either via downloading a voting form via Sainsbury’s website  www.sainsburys.co.uk/localcharity or by emailing their nomination to Local.charity@sainsburys.co.uk.

Sainsburys Blackhall Store Manager David Bainbridge said: “Our work with previous Local Charity partners over the years has been really successful in letting our customers have their say. We hope our customers can take the time to vote in the coming weeks and give a local charity that’s close to their hearts the chance for us to support them”.

The winning charity will be announced in June.

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