WHY STEPHEN WANTS YOUR HELP
ACTOR’S PLEA TO PEOPLE OF BRISTOL TO HELP SAVE CANCER HOSPICE THAT CARED FOR HIS GRAN
❝ I feel like I’ve watched the hospice ‘grow up’ and evolve over the years. It’s part of the city, part of its fabric Stephen Merchant
FOR actor Stephen Merchant, his first memory of visiting Bristol’s only adult hospice was to visit his nanny Joan.
As a teenager Stephen, who grew up in Hanham, was a regular visitor to St Peter’s Hospice when his nan was cared for there in 1995.
Today, 25 years later, he is back at the hospice to appeal to the people of Bristol and beyond to support the charity’s fundraising drive to recoup the millions in funding it has lost – and secure its future for generations to come.
The charity has launched its When It Matters Most campaign, backed by the Bristol Post and its sister website Bristol Live, to try to recoup the estimated £2 million it has lost as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
It in a bid to get the charity into an ‘interim position’ which it can
The hospice is part of the city, part of its fabric ... And it’s always been here when people need it at the most difficult time in their lives Stephen Merchant
hold for the next 12 months, it has cut the number of beds in its inpatient unit from 15 to 10.
Day hospice services are closed and staff are facing redundancy.
It is the first time in the hospice’s 40-year history that such measures have had to be made.
“Seeing how coronavirus has affected charities is just heartbreaking,” said Stephen.
“But when it impacts charities like St Peter’s Hospice which gives amazing care to people at the end of their lives, it’s a particularly desperate situation.”
Stephen’s links with the hospice have continued over recent years.
His mum Elaine’s best friend Sue was also cared for there.
“I first came to the hospice in my early teens,” said Stephen.
“Mum was involved in various ways and then I got involved on the back of that.
“I have seen first hand the difference this place makes to so many people’s lives.
“When mum’s best friend was in the hospice, mum was visiting every other day.
“I was in London hearing about the amazing care the hospice was providing to Sue.
“Sue was so full of praise for the hospice. Hearing it like that, on a very personal level, makes it more tangible and profound.”
Stephen’s last visit to the hospice was to see the work to the new £6.5million inpatient unit, completed in 2018.
“Last time I came it was a building site,” he said.
“The hospice has been part of my life growing up; I feel like I’ve watched the hospice ‘grow up’ and evolve too over the years.”
Stephen, 46, says the hospice has always been massively supported by the people of Bristol.
“It’s part of the city, part of its fabric,” he said.
“And it’s always been here when people need it at the most difficult time in their lives.
“To have to reduce the number of beds by five may not seem a lot.
“But it’s a very, very dramatic step for a charity like this.
“I know everyone is struggling at the moment. People have lost their jobs and seen their income suffer due to the pandemic.
“But I am asking everyone to put their hand in their pocket and make a contribution to the appeal.
“For a charity which has to raise 80 per cent of their costs themselves, every single donation, big or small, will help.
“Heaven forbid you or your loved ones will ever need the support of the hospice.
“But there is a huge value to any contribution made. It is Bristol’s only adult hospice and there is nothing else like it.”
Due to tight infection control measures all visitors and staff at the hospice must wear a mask.
“One thing that always strikes me when I come here is that all the staff are always happy and smiling,” he says.
“With the masks on you don’t see that. That’s the tragedy of Covid, you can’t see that.
“But I still know those smiles are there – for everyone who walks in the door.”
Stephen was in Bristol in February filming a new drama – The Offenders – a project he has been working on for five years.
The comedy tells the story of a group of people all doing commu
nity service that end up involved in an even bigger crime than the one they initially committed.
But filming had to be paused due to the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown.
“It was great to be back in my home city filming and hearing that wonderful Bristol accent,” he said.
“I have been working on this project and it was great to be able to get it off the ground.”
Stephen hopes to resume filming in the near future.
In the meantime though his message to his fellow Bristolians is clear.
“Heaven forbid the hospice should go under because it can’t raise the money it needs,” he said.
“If you can contribute and support the appeal in any way, by making a donation or fundraising, please do it.”
To support the When It Matters Most campaign go to https://www.