We were undeterred by the late night snow fall of Thursday and would not let this dampen our spirits as we opened our doors to welcome staff and volunteers up to help us mark this very special day. Our wonderful maintenance team worked tirelessly all morning to clear the pathways and car park to restore normal access to the hospice.
Our Director of Fundraising Karen Milne set up a fantastic 'Walk Down Memory Lane' with newspaper cuttings and pictures of when the first hospice was opened in Johnstone in 1988 and then taking you through the move to our current location in Midton Road. The staff also got involved in this 'Walk Down Memory Lane' by bringing in pictures of themselves from 25 years ago - a small competition was created from this to see how many staff members and volunteers you could guess, needless to say a couple really did stump everyone, it is amazing to see how some people have changed and others not.
The one thing that seemed to resonate from everyone who attended the 'Birthday' party was how the hospice had grown and changed over the years! From the first fundraising team and building with only an in-patient unit costing £1,000 per day, to our current services comprising of 8 beds, community specialist nurse team and day hospice costing £5,000 per day. The services are constantly evolving and expanding to meet the ever growing need of our community. It is a wonderful thing to see how much has developed in the last 25 years.
So happy anniversary to St Vincent's Hospice from all the staff, volunteers and supporters - here's to the next 25 years.
