Sir Mike Penning marks Hospice Care Week with shop visit

Sir Mike’s visit to the Rennie Grove Peace charity shop on Maylands Road in Hemel Hempstead saw him getting to know the staff and volunteers, learning more about the operations of working in a charity shop and even browsing the shelves to see what items he could find.

The visit was part of a national initiative by Hospice UK to marks its Hospice Care Week. MPs across the country are visiting their local hospice both during and after the week. This year Hospice Care Week’s ‘We Are Hospice Care’ theme sheds light on the people who make up a hospice, celebrating the breadth, diversity and excellence of the hospice workforce. From clinical staff to bereavement counsellors, kitchen staff to shop volunteers, the people who make up a hospice are what makes hospice care so special.

Over 40,000 people work in charitable hospices across the UK. Hospices support more than 300,000 people every year and work across the system to reduce pressure on the NHS and train and support heath and care workers. But right now is a challenging time for hospices, and the need for hospice care is growing. The cost-of-living crisis has seen their costs soar, making fundraising for the majority of their income increasingly challenging. At the same time, recruiting, retaining, and paying their dedicated staff a fair wage has never been tougher.

Nicola Flood, Head of Buying and Operations at Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care, says:

“It was a pleasure to welcome Sir Mike to the shop and show him how everything works. The work that staff and volunteers do in our 32 High St shops around Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire is invaluable to the running of the charity. Our retail operation generates crucial funds for the charity and Rennie Grove Peace couldn’t provide all the services it does for patients without this vital contribution.”

Sir Mike Penning MP added:

“Rennie Grove Peace Hospice is a fantastic local charity and I’m proud to be a patron of the organisation. I’ve been a supporter of the hospice movement for many years after seeing first-hand how it has supported my own relatives. It was great to spend time chatting to the team in the shop about how their work supports the care that is provided to people in our local area who are living with a life-limiting illness.”

To learn more about the range of paid and voluntary roles currently available at Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care, visit renniegrovepeace.org.