Welcome to Great oaks Hospice
CONFIDENCE IN CARE
For more than 20 years, Great Oaks Hospice has provided hospice services across the Forest of Dean District and our part of Gloucestershire, growing from a room in the Dilke Hospital to our own site in Coleford. Throughout this period, we have modelled our services to meet the demands of the patients in our community and we plan to grow and adapt our services to deliver what our community requires moving forwards.
Since we opened, we have seen an increasing ageing population who present with ever more complex needs. This we foresee as continuing, so we need to ensure we are positioned to meet the increasing demand of those requiring services for palliative care, whether that be for a few weeks or a number of years, whilst also supporting their families and network of carers.
The pandemic allowed us to rethink some old practices, explore and adopt new ways of working, and deliver our services in ways that might not have been possible beforehand. We plan to build upon these learnings and use them to help shape our approach in the next 20 years
Throughout the past 20 years not only has Great Oaks been a Hospice for the community in which we operate, but the community has also been crucial to ensuring we have been able to grow and deliver our services.
Our community is as important to the future of Great Oaks today as they have ever been. Whether supporting us in our shops, fundraising or volunteering, our community enable us through their time, hard work and generosity to do what we do, and we are extremely grateful for all that they do.
Our Hospice requires over £1 million a year to run, with the cost of charitable activities accounting for a little over 85%. We receive funding for about 30% of our running costs from the NHS, with the balance being generated by the charity. Charitable income generated and donated allows for more services to be delivered with minimal impact on back room costs.
Like many other charities, our usual retail and fundraising activities were significantly curtailed due to lockdowns and restrictions during the pandemic. We were fortunate to receive both national and local government support through “covid grants”, however, these are unlikely to be repeated and so the ongoing need to raise the funds to grow and deliver our services is a continual focus.
Our Trustees
Chairperson
Mrs Susan Williams RGN
(Personnel & Finance, Investment, Health & Safety and Quality Committees)
Finance Director
Mr Geoffrey Capps
(Personnel & Finance and Investment Committees)
Medical director
Dr Roy Sharma
(Quality Committee)
Director
Mr Hugh Aldridge
(Personnel & Finance Committee)
Director
Mr Alan Robinson
(Health & Safety Committee)
Director
Mr Gary Ellis
(Personnel & Finance Committee)
Director
Mr Steve Lewis
Director
Dr Emma Husbands
Director
Mrs Lorraine Aldridge
Director
Mrs Julie Sharma, Dip IHSM, Grad IPM, MBA (Cardiff)