Publication Date: 29-04-2025 09:00
Homebuilder Bellway supports Midhurst Macmillan Service with refurbishment project for its counselling rooms
A service based in Midhurst which cares for people needing palliative or end-of-life care has been supported by local homebuilder Bellway.
The company has furnished and supplied new blinds for three meeting rooms and the reception at the Midhurst Macmillan Service premises in the town.
On Wednesday 9 April a launch event was held for staff, volunteers and charity trustees from Midhurst Palliative Care – which part funds the service – at the new-look space in the Pearson Unit next to Midhurst Community Hospital.
Service Lead Joanna Stuttaford said: “A huge thank you to Bellway for giving us the opportunity to do this. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without their help. It’s a huge asset to the community when a company like this can partner and work with a charity and a clinical service. It’s hugely helpful.
“The refurbishment has been thoughtfully designed to provide an environment that is conducive to patients and relatives receiving emotional support.”
The meeting rooms are used by the counselling and bereavement arm of the service to support patients and families of patients, including children. Staff themselves receive support and counselling there and one of the rooms is also used for an outpatient clinic.
Previously the rooms were bare clinical spaces, but the refurbishment has introduced neutral colours and soft furnishings, combining comfort and practicality. It has also been made more child friendly with bookshelves and baskets of toys and has space for a Pets as Therapy (PAT) dog to be there too.
“Now it feels welcoming, tranquil and safe, which is so important,” said Joanna. “The colours are neutral, and it feels soft and comfortable. It’s a safe space and that takes the fear out of being in a clinical environment.
“It is quiet and calming and it immediately relaxes people and lends itself to patients being able to be themselves in a private and safe environment.”
Bellway worked with the service and Showbiz Interiors to develop a scheme that worked for all the ways the space is used.
Midhurst Macmillan Service aims to support patients to have good quality of life in their preferred place of care and place of death until the end of their life. It is for patients with all diagnoses, not just those who have cancer, and covers 400 square miles of Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex. The service is jointly funded by the NHS and the Midhurst Palliative Care charity.
The care team includes doctors, nurses, counsellors, occupational therapists and physiotherapists as well as the bereavement support team.
Bellway South London Sales Manager Fiona Mitchell said: “The Midhurst Macmillan Service provides crucial help to people at the end of their lives.
“The wide range of care that its professionals can offer makes a valuable difference to patients and their families at such a difficult time and we were glad to offer a contribution to help them achieve that.
“Making sure that the service has a comfortable environment to work in is so important and that is why we offered our help.
“We hope that the team and the patients they care for find the new rooms comfortable and pleasant to use.”
Bellway is building new homes a mile away from the hospital at its Perceval Grange development, off Bepton Road, Midhurst.
To find out more about the charity and the service visit https://www.mpc-midhurstmacmillan.org.
To find out more about Perceval Grange, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/south-london/perceval-grange.
