STARBUCKS STAFF in Darlington are helping to raise money for St Teresa’s Hospice this weekend. They are dressing up with a Hawaiian beach theme today and on Sunday 19th June, customers are invited to participate in an arts and craft session and help create a paper montage on the wall upstairs. They may bring their own materials.

Becky Middleton supervisor, said: ”Everything we do here as a fund raising activity, is to help St Teresa’s. We do our best throughout the year to raise money. Today we are dressed up with garlands, and it makes people smile, but we do other things as well. We have the collection box placed in a prominent position and we encourage donations.”

Founded in 1986 as a registered charity, St Teresa’s has six specialist palliative care beds and a hospice at home respite care service. It gives counseling and bereavement support and has 20 places a day, four days a week for day care services. What’s more, the expert services of the charity are free to all people within the catchment area.

Offering patients choice, is a mission statement of the organization. They believe that a person has the right to decide where they want to die, at home, in a hospice or a hospital. A holistic approach in taken to ensure that the delivery of service embraces the physical, social, spiritual and psychological needs of the patient and his or her family.

In patient care can be for respite, or terminal care, to help with pain management while the bereavement support service sees to the emotional and practical needs of those left behind when someone they love dies. A wide range of other additional services is available.

It costs about £19,231 per week to provide professional health services to the public, to help improve the quality of their life, in particularly stressful times. Only 30% of St Teresa’s funding comes from the Government. They need in excess of £1.5 million a year to keep going.