The Swan Fund
The Swan Fund was set up by Jules Lewis, Swan End of Life Care (EoLC) Facilitator/Lead Nurse at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford.
Jules launched the Swan Fund in July 2015 with a £500 donation collected at the funeral of her own father, Harold, who died at RSH. The fund has now grown to over £60,000 and is used to fund SWAN Model of Care resources for the care and support we offer to our patients & the people important to them in those last hours /days of life and to support staff to deliver good and excellent end of life care.
The Swan Fund also funds a Wedding Box which allows staff to plan a hospital wedding for a patient, decorate their room and toast the bride and groom – there have been two weddings in 2021. In addition the Swan Fund is used to purchase Swan bags and folders which are gifted to the people important to the patient, providing supporting information and essential items at the hardest of times.
Making a donation towards our Swan Fund, or buying an item from our Amazon wish list helps us to provide the following:
Mood lights are used to create ambient lighting for patient’s rooms. They can be changed to a favourite colour and used as a nightlight for staff to deliver care, which means relatives can rest if staying overnight. 20cm colour changing mood lights can be purchased from our Amazon wish list.
CD players and music CD’s are used to create a calm and relaxing atmosphere for a patient in their last hours/days of life. The use of music assists spiritual care and enhances the patient’s experience. CD players can be purchased from our Amazon wish list.
Jewellery Bags – A lock of hair for those important to the patient can be taken and it assists with making memories and spiritual care. These small bags can be used also to return items of jewellery back to those important to the patient, returning the item with the importance it deserves. Jewellery bags can be purchased from our Amazon wish list.
Drink and cake vouchers – Gifted to those important to the patient, they allow them to go off the ward to have a break but also give them refreshment. Making a donation to the Swan Fund will help us to purchase vouchers.
Swan folders– these contain items that will assist those important to the patient with the next steps after someone has died. They also contain items that are for building memories.
Swan paper bags – The emphasis is showing kindness / compassion / signposting to those important to the patient after an expected or unexpected death.
Making a donation to the Swan Fund will help us to purchase Swan folders and paper bags.
Swan Rooms – A calm and peaceful room with a warm and cosy atmosphere
- Painted in SWAN colours
- Sky lights
- CD player and Mood lights
- SWAN recliner chairs
- Focal point pictures
SWAN recliner chairs are for those people visiting that are important to the patient when staying overnight. Relative’s blankets can be gifted to people staying overnight. They help people stay warm and comfortable in our hospitals
Skylights – These were introduced to the SWAN rooms in 2020 to create a focal point in the room. These are placed above the patients head so that they can see the outside. This also creates a calm peaceful atmosphere and subtle lighting.
Making a donation to the Swan Fund will help us to fund the creation of more Swan Rooms, furnish them or install a skylight
Making a donation to the Swan Fund
If you wish to make a donation to support the work of the team you can purchase any of the items on the Swan End of Life Care wish list or make a donation to the Swan Fund in the following way:
By Cheque: Please make the cheque payable to “SATH Charity” with “Swan Fund” written on the reverse (this is to ensure the donation is paid into the Swan Fund). Cheques can be posted to the following address: Jules Lewis, Swan EoLC Facilitator/Lead Nurse, EoLC Office, Ward 22RE, Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Shrewsbury SY3 8XQ. Alternatively if you would like to present the cheque in person, please contact the team on 01743 261000 Ext 3464 to arrange this.
