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While nurses and doctors are at the heart of ellenor hospice care, there are many others playing an equally important role in providing holistic support, especially during this difficult time fighting Covid-19.
Chaplains at ellenor, a hospice which offers palliative care across Gravesend, Dartford and Swanley, also play a key part of the palliative care team, offering comfort and spiritual strength to people with life-limiting or terminal illnesses.
The Reverend Ben Cooper has been lead chaplain at ellenor hospice for more than four years, working three days a week alongside five volunteer chaplains.
He said: “My faith in God is at the heart of everything I do.
"I meet many wonderful people and feel honoured to be part of their journey and to share time with them.
"A lot of people think hospices are sad places, but there is a wonderful atmosphere and a team spirit at ellenor that’s very uplifting.
"It’s felt by everyone in our community, from patients and family members to the staff who support them."
The chaplains Ben, Mike, Les, Sharon, Marion and Folake, work with the ellenor nurses as part of a multidisciplinary team serving patients and their families.
Much of their work takes place at a patient’s bedside – in the hospice, in the patient’s home or within a community setting, such as care homes.
Ben said: “We also support staff and volunteers, whether by offering a listening ear as they discuss their working day or talk about more personal issues.
"A smile, a caring hug if they ask for one, holding someone’s hand – it’s all part of a chaplain’s day.
"We offer support to people of all faiths, as well as people who do not have a religious belief but who would like someone to talk to.
"Remember, spirituality is not just about a belief in God, it’s whatever brings meaning to your life.
"When I asked one end-of-life patient what brought him spiritual comfort, he answered Arsenal Football Club!”
The chaplains offer empathetic listening, a faithful presence, space to talk about a patient’s life story or they help patients to discover renewed meaning in their lives and spiritual peace.
Bed said: “We all have one aim: to enable patients to live their lives as well as possible whether with terminal illness or other long-term health conditions.
"Covid-19 is a crisis we had not foreseen, and as its impact continues to evolve, our goals remain the same, to re-think and adapt the way we care and support local people within our community, so we can still be there to provide the expert care they need.
"We are still able to continue bedside counselling at the hospice, but social distancing has made this a little more challenging.
"It hasn’t stopped us though and we continue to support people with their spiritual needs, helping to try to answer some of the bigger questions about life and meaning."
Ben is still able to reach out to patients and their families but due to Covid-19, he and the other chaplains now speak to them via phone, email, text, online weekly virtual prayers and services.
He said: "Others will feel more isolated without the human touch, but we will do all we can to reassure them that they are not alone, and that we are still here to support them and their families.
“As far as possible, it’s ‘business as usual’ here at ellenor – there is a peace here, we are still smiling, rising to the coronavirus challenge and communicating as well as – if not better than - before.
"As for our local community: the support we’ve received has been amazing! We’ve had much-appreciated gifts of food, and especially welcome has been financial support, which – with so many of our fundraising activities now cancelled – is something we desperately need now.
“Holistic and spiritual care at ellenor has never been more important than it is now, and we are having to all learn how to adjust to this new situation.
"Our message as a chaplaincy team is to stay hopeful: we have gone through challenges before and we will get through this together.”
Ellenor has launched its own fighting fund to help it through the crisis. You can find out more here.
Swanley and North Downs Lions Club has made a donation of £1,200, made up of a grant from the Lions UK Emergency Fund and the profit from the club’s recent Easter Egg raffles. It will be used to help with the additional costs ellenor is experiencing in supporting victims of the virus.
Club president Malcolm Munro said: “The coronavirus pandemic is hurting lots of local people in lots of different ways – just because we are all social distancing doesn’t stop us from doing what we can.”
Lions members are ordinary people actively working for their local communities.
Swanley & North Downs Lions support a range of good causes and local projects and if you wish to get involved visit the website at www.swanleyandnorthdownslions.org.uk
