History of St Mary's
St Mary's Hospice opened in Ulverston in 1989 and occupies a large house on a pleasant site in the outskirts of town. The inpatient unit is accommodated in a purpose-built extension to the main house, completed in 1997. Now St Mary's is one of the largest local charities and continues to be funded mainly by the generosity of the community for the benefit of the community.
In 2009 St Mary's reflected on 25 years of considerable achievement. To celebrate the occasion a tree planting ceremony took place - of a liquid amber tree - by the original founder members of the hospice, Reverend Nick Gosswin, Mrs Margaret Berry and Mrs Clarissa Kavanagh. Reverend Gosswin told onlookers that it was back in 1984 that they came up with the raw idea of a Hospice for the South Cumbria area:
"We had a vision of a place of peace and tranquility and after a lot of heartache and headaches the Hospice was eventually opened (by Princess Diana) in 1990. It has since built a reputation as the centre of excellence where the treatment and care is unsurpassed."
The inpatient unit serves an established need and will continue to do so in the future. Increasingly, however, the focus of service provision is on looking after people in their homes, and we are seeing a continuing expansion of the scope of our Hospice@Home. In addition, therapy and family support services have grown in scales and stature over the past few years.
We shall continue to promote new developments designed to improve and increase the provision of care to people in our community who are at the end of their lives, and those who care for them.