29 July 2025

SaTH Charity’s Swan Fund has celebrated a milestone birthday, turning 10 years old and raising over £100,000 thanks to the generosity of the public.

The fund was created in 2015 with a £500 donation collected at the funeral of Jules Lewis’ father Harold who died at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH).

The money raised is used to support last hours and days care for patients and their loved ones.

To celebrate the fund’s birthday, the team invited the volunteers and knitters to a thank you café at Shropshire Education & Conference Centre to thank them for their ongoing support.

Jules Lewis, End of Life Care Facilitator/Lead Nurse at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) said: “It is so lovely that we have turned the date of my lovely dad’s death into the Swan Fund Anniversary, a joyful and hopeful thank you café to celebrate the dedication of volunteers and knitters to our ‘one chance’ work, dad would have loved that.

“The day was such a heartwarming morning celebrating our volunteers and knitters.”

Julia Clarke, Director of Public Participation at SaTH, said: “We are so grateful to the people who donate to the Swan Fund and our wonderful volunteers and the knitters who donated knitted kindness hearts.

“We would also like to thank our staff for their commitment to provide the best possible care to their patients and their loved ones. The Swan Fund is used to provide extras that are not provided within the national contract like skylights in the Swan Rooms, reclining chairs for relatives to sleep on, mood lights, they also provide Swan folders and Swan bereavement bags to loved ones that include vital information.

“Everyone involved is supporting those who are going through the hardest moment of their lives.”

At the celebration, Jules thanked the following: Linda Parker, Ward Clerk on Ward 32 and Swan EOLC Volunteer/Champion; Jules Lock, lead Swan EOLC Volunteer and all those who bought a raffle ticket for the event. The winner of the first prize (a painting by Roy Lilley, Health Writer / Commentator & Artist) was Jackie Payne.

Captions:

1.Jules Lewis and Julia Clarke with Jules Lock who made the Swan Fund birthday cake

2. Volunteers and knitters at the birthday celebration