Dove House Hospice receives funding from Nationwide Building Society to contribute towards a cuddle bed

We have received an incredible £10,000 from Nationwide Building Society to help contribute towards the purchase of a cuddle bed.

This is part of a wider grants programme at Nationwide – any Nationwide employee can apply for a grant of up to £10,000 on behalf of a local charity. Twenty four charities across the UK have received a share of just over £200,000 in the recent round of grants, with Dove House being one of the successful charities!

Sammie Bird, Member Representative at Nationwide Building Society, comments: “I work really closely with Dove House Hospice helping with fundraising events in and out of the branch. When the opportunity to apply for a grant for the charity came up, I jumped at the chance. Local charities have been hit by the pandemic and anything we can do to support and help them continue their valuable work with local communities is so important.”

​Without the support of Nationwide, we wouldn't be able to purchase a cuddle bed, which will give patients the chance to have a cuddle with a loved one comfortably at the push of a button. Nationwide as well as other organisations and countless community members have supported us over the COVID pandemic; without that support we wouldn't have been able to keep our doors open and continue to provide the vital care and support to patients and families across Hull & East Yorkshire.
Jethro Shearring, our Regional Fundraiser at the hospice, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Nationwide. Over the last year, the pandemic has had a significant impact on our finances, alongside presenting many challenges to our care. We have relied on the generous support of our community and organisations such as Nationwide more than ever. The staff at Nationwide have consistently gone the extra mile in support of our patients and their loved ones and we cannot thank them enough for their kindness.  The £10,000 donation will allow us to purchase a cuddle bed, which will make a crucial difference to our patients and their loved ones on our inpatient unit. At the touch of a button, the bed can become a double, allowing people to be closer and have cuddles in a safe and comfortable way. This is really important to our patients, not only for partners but for children and other family members to have some quiet and intimate moments together, often for the last time. Due to the financial challenges the hospice is experiencing, buying such an amazing piece of equipment was only made possible due to the generosity of Nationwide.”