Abstract

In 2014 at the 30^th anniversary celebrations for St Richard’s Hospice there was an overwhelming feeling from those present that the memories and experiences of those involved in the foundation of the hospice should be recorded for prosperity before it is too late. The project ‘St Richard’s Hospice Voices’ has collected digital recordings, photos and documents charting the creation of the hospice from kitchen table to the present building and services offered to date. The project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery (HLF) as it is considered this project is ‘of immeasurable heritage value’ and the HLF were pleased to support the capturing of evidence for ‘moments in history when palliative care changed dramatically with the emergence of the hospice movement in the UK’. Lord Howard supported the application stating ‘the hospice movement has grown significantly over a 50 year period and we are fortunate to have many of their original founders still available, however, this scenario is a changing one and it is becoming increasingly important to capture their memories and thoughts as a record for in perpetuity’.

The full interview recordings are to be archived at the Worcestershire Record Office at the Hive (part of the national archive) providing researchers of the future a snapshot of the changing face of palliative care between 1984 and 2015. All the recordings and photographs are on the hospice website.

We have thoroughly enjoyed working on this project and would love to share the results and more about how we secured funding for this project through the HLF.

We have an audio post with a snapshot of some of the recordings. The display is portable as we intend to move it around our community over the coming months.