Chairman Ron Spencer describes the Diana Princess of Wales Care at Home Trust as ‘one of the best charities the Isle of Man has never heard of’.
But he’s hoping a nomination for the Isle of Man Newspapers’ Pride in Mann awards will help to change that and give the charity some welcome publicity.
The charity’s secretary, Martin Norbury, nominated the organisation in the Charity and Volunteers category.
In his nomination, Mr Norbury, said: ‘The trust aims to fund nursing staff to provide respite care and end of life palliative care for island residents who choose to remain at home in their last days. In effect it provides a Hospice at Home service.
‘Research suggests that more and more people prefer to spend their last days with the dignity and comfort that comes from being in their own homes,’ he said.
Mr Spencer echoed the sentiment: ‘There are those who need support outside Hospice or hospital and data shows most of us want to die at home but most end up dying in hospital.’
He said the Trust funds special nurses who are provided and trained by Hospice.
The trust also has a fundraising target of £50,000 a year to keep abreast of its commitments.
The charity is run entirely by volunteers and employs no staff so all money goes to benefit patients.
At some point in the future they hope to introduce an on-call service. ‘But that does mean we will have to raise our fundraising sights even higher,’ he added.
‘What we would really like to do is encourage companies or organisations to make us their charity of the year because we don’t have the colossal fundraising structure that some charities do.
‘But what we do have is a fantastic and dynamic bunch of trustees.’
Mr Norbury said the charity, though separate from Hospice, worked closely with it.
As well as funding the specialist Diana nurses and a healthcare assistant, funds are also used to help buy specialist equipment and fund further training across in the UK.
Pride in Mann is an awards scheme sponsored by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.
Nominations have now closed.