Help us enhance care for terminally ill patients at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.
At the end of 2019, we launched our Butterfly Appeal with the aim of raising £340,000 to provide a dedicated indoor space within a beautiful garden, so patients could be surrounded by their loved ones as they prepare to say goodbye.
Thanks to the sincere generosity and commitment from our community, we proudly opened the doors to our Butterfly Garden in September 2023.
The calming space, decorated beautifully by Neptune, has indoor and outdoor areas, so families can enjoy the garden whatever the weather.
It’s so important that we’ve been able to provide a space for patients and their loved ones to spend quality time together and share precious memories, away from the hustle and bustle of the wards. Above all, it’s an area for peace, reflection, and contemplation – that doesn’t feel like a hospital.
Our Butterfly Garden also allows staff to have difficult conversations with loved ones.
We still need your help
Our Butterfly Appeal aims to enhance end-of-life care for patients and their loved ones. Funds raised to this appeal can help with:
- Comfort packs which contain essentials to allow people to stay beside the bed of their loved one.
- Training to allow nurses to administer pain relief.
- Ready beds which allow loved ones to stay.
- Scenic screens to enhance the bed space. They include a beach, woodland and hot air balloon floating over fields.
- Knitted bears which are given to comfort the patient. These either carry on their journey with the patient or go home with the family.
- End of life companionship, in which volunteers spend a few hours with patients who have no family or whose families are unable to be with them, or to give loved ones a little respite.
- Beautiful knitted blankets which can go home with the family as a keepsake.
Whilst some of these are simple things, they make a huge difference and make life more comfortable at such a difficult time.
You can donate at www.justgiving.com/campaign/butterfly or contact our team at fundraising@wsh.nhs.uk
If you want to find out more about palliative care at the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, please click here.