News

Community demand for a privately owned and operated hospice within Maitland has reached a point where it is time to take action, according to Judith Robinson, Manager of the not-for-profit organisation Volunteers for Palliative Care Inc based in Maitland.

On Sunday 6th May 2018 Volunteers for Palliative Care Inc announced plans to build a community hospice for the Maitland region. But to get their project up and running will take start-up capital of over $1 million dollars.

Launched at the annual Volunteers for Palliative Care fundraiser at Maitland Park, over 70 people were present at the announcement and heard first hand the vision for this service.

“Providing people with a local community hospice for end of life support means, for some, the difference between having family with them at the end of their life or not. It will be another option of being able to die in as close to a home environment as is possible. Our centre will focus on providing holistic support and services, combining both medical and non-medical palliative care” says Judith Robinson who is also the project coordinator.

Engaging the community in the development of the centre is a main priority for the project team, who are looking for partners from both government and private funding to create this project.

“We want to deliver a service which is truly unique and caters for our Maitland community which is why we will be hosting a community forum in June. Until then, we are exploring lots of avenues for gaining the financial support we need to obtain the property and assets we need to be operational by 2020” said Ms Robinson.

If you would like more information, please contact Judith Robinson at 02 4936 6582 or email at [email protected].

Pic: (L-R) Member for Maitland Jenny Aitchison MP – Patron of Volunteers for Palliative Care, Judith Robinson – Project Coordinator and Manager, Volunteers for Palliative Care, and Maitland City Mayor Cr Loretta Baker.