Our Patrons and Ambassadors help us in many ways: spreading the word about our work; giving their time to our patients and families; attending events and fundraising to help fund the care we provide. We are so grateful for all their hard work and support.
BAFTA award-winning documentary maker, actor and author, Ross Kemp, became an Ambassador for Thames Hospice in 2021.
As a local resident and fervent supporter of the Hospice, Ross dedicates huge amounts of his time to promote the work of the charity and regularly visits the Hospice to the delight of patients, staff and volunteers.
Commenting on his new role, Ross Kemp said:
“I am very proud to be an Ambassador for Thames Hospice. It’s a very special place with incredibly inspiring staff and volunteers. I am always moved by the positive atmosphere, compassionate care and love during my visits to the Hospice.
“Their work is fundamental in supporting local families through the most traumatic time and it is my pleasure to continue to raise awareness of this wonderful charity and get involved with their fundraising efforts.”
Star of stage and screen, acclaimed actress and singer Anita Dobson is an avid supporter of Thames Hospice.
Anita has supported many retail events, including the reopening of the charity’s Sunninghill shop and fronted our first ever Fashion Show at the Guildhall. Anita regularly pops into the Hospice to meet and chat with our patients and staff.
Following a recent visit to the Hospice in Windsor, Anita said:
"I was so moved by the warmth, serenity and compassion at the Hospice. Nothing is too much trouble from both the staff and volunteers."
Much loved for her role as Marlene in 'Only Fools and Horses', actress and Windsorian Sue Holderness has supported Thames Hospice for many years.
Sue supports many fundraising events and has recently opened some of our new shops, including Gerrards Cross. Sue helped us launch our 'Raise the Roof' fundraising appeal in the heart of Windsor in 2019 to support the new hospice build. We are also hugely grateful to Sue for supporting us during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Sue said:
"Thames Hospice has such a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere with wonderful staff."
We're immensely proud of the amazing people who give their time to support and promote Thames Hospice. From those who have been directly affected by our work, to the people who have been inspired by our amazing care and the people we are privileged to support.
We are delighted that Whitney and Megan, known collectively as ‘Wegan’, have become Ambassadors of Thames Hospice to help promote the work of the charity through their large social media following.
Luxury travel, fashion and lifestyle social media creators, the wife and wife team have been together and online for nearly 13 years and were the first lesbian couple on YouTube. Conquering long distance from the UK to Hawaii for years, they now reside in Windsor. Wegan are passionate about challenging stereotypes and strive to provide visibility to the LGBTQ+ community across the world through their social platforms and 250k+following. Whitney and Megan are passionate about raising awareness online and are the voice of the femme community.
Wegan said:
“We are honoured to support Thames Hospice and privileged to learn more about the charity and its amazing support for our local community. It's completely opened up our minds and hearts as to what hospice care stands for and seeing the incredible love and care families receive from the wonderful team at this amazing local charity."
Sunita Arora has been supporting Thames Hospice since 2021 and invited the charity to be one of three beneficiaries of their prestigious Arora Ball, a well-known and high profile event which has raised millions of pounds for worthy causes over the past 10 years.
Sunita is one of the co-founders and an Executive Director of The Arora Group. Sunita has been actively involved in the business since its inception in 1999, and launched a group of award-winning nurseries for younger children. Her interests include interior design for the business, noteworthy charitable works and support of the arts. Sunita is one of the founders of the Arora Charitable Foundation which supports social responsibility initiatives in the UK and overseas.
Sunita said:
“Over the last year, I have seen what a difference Thames Hospice is making within the community. I am delighted to become an Ambassador so I can tell everyone in my own communities the incredible care and support they can offer to help families struggling in their own homes.”
We are thrilled that local business woman, Simone Markham, has become an Ambassador of Thames Hospice. Simone owns MyBoutique, a thriving independent ladies clothing store based in Farnham Common and online. Simone and her family raised £20,000 in 2022 for Thames Hospice in honour of their beloved wife, mother and nana, Yvonne Ive, who was cared for on the Inpatient Unit.
As a Hospice Ambassador Simone will continue to raise significant funds and help promote the vital work of the Hospice through her extensive network of friends and business contacts across South Bucks.
Simone said:
“I feel immensely honoured and proud to be an Ambassador for Thames Hospice. Mum adored the Hospice; she felt safe there, often describing it as a ‘magical place’, with ‘angels supporting her every need.’
“In what was a very difficult time for our family, we still continued to have hope, joy and laughter every day at the Hospice and will be forever grateful to their wonderful team.”
Jason is a passionate lifelong supporter of Thames Hospice with a long-standing family connection. Thames Hospice was formed by the merger of the Thames Valley Hospice and the Paul Bevan day hospice.
Paul was Jason’s father who died following a battle with cancer age 42 and Paul’s wife Penny and close friends formed the Paul Bevan day hospice in his memory.
Jason has continued the Bevan family’s close ties with Thames Hospice with a number of fundraising activities over the years, most recently creating the Big Mountain Challenge providing substantial support to the capital appeal for the new hospice. Jason also provides marketing and other support to Thames Hospice, backed up by his professional career in film marketing. Jason lives with his wife and three children.
Jason says:
“I am proud to support Thames Hospice and honour my father’s legacy through this wonderful charity."
Lord Brownlow CVO, DL has supported Thames Hospice since 2017 through his foundation, the David Brownlow Charitable Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting the lives of those facing disadvantage. Lord Brownlow has got to know the work of the Hospice over the last few years providing particular support during the capital appeal to build the facility by Bray Lake which opened in October 2020. Lord Brownlow has also hosted events on behalf of Thames Hospice encouraging other local donors to support the charity’s work.
On being appointed, Lord Brownlow said:
“I have long admired and supported the work of Thames Hospice, what I like the most is the pragmatic approach to need in our community and Thames Hospice’s can do attitude of following the need to provide the very best care possible.”
In his role as Ambassador, Lord Brownlow will champion the Hospice’s work in the local community and through his work in the House of Lords, as well as with other philanthropists.
Carol is currently accessing Thames Hospice’s Outpatient Services. Despite living with a life-limiting illness, she is a fervent fundraiser for us.
Her support includes opening our shop in Gerrards Cross, press and broadcast interviews about the care she’s been receiving, and fundraising.
In amongst all of this, she runs a Rainbows unit and looks after her grandchildren each week. We think the world of Carol and are delighted and honoured to have her as one of our amazing Ambassadors.
In 2008, Richard joined Thames Hospice as a Volunteer Receptionist on our Inpatient Unit. By 2009, it became clear that Richard’s passion for the cause and extensive retail experience could help guide the Hospice’s future, and he joined our Board of Trustees.
He was a very active member for eight years, as Chairman of the Income Generation and Marketing Committee and a member of the Patient Care and Quality Committee, before retiring in September 2017. He remains a volunteer on our Inpatient Unit and at events.
Richard shows outstanding commitment to the Hospice and he is passionate about his role as both an Ambassador and Volunteer. He also ensures he visits the Hospice on Christmas Day; to support our medical staff, patients and families at this special time of year.
We are extremely grateful for Richard’s dedication and are honoured he still gives his time to us.
Thames Hospice cared for Tom's dad, Keith, who died at home surrounded by his family in September 2019. Tom accessed our bereavement counselling services following his dad's death and wants to use his own experience to spread awareness about the Hospice.
Tom, who lives in South West London with his wife Emma, is also a fervent fundraiser raising over £4,000 for the Hospice through a charity football match.
We are delighted that Ellie Brown has become an Ambassador of Thames Hospice. Ellie, aged 23, has raised over £7,000 for Thames Hospice, alongside her family and friends, in honour of her beloved Dad Richard who was cared by the charity after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2021.
Ellie, who has recently started an exciting career in the media industry after gaining a first class honours degree at Exeter University in English and Drama, would like to use her own experiences to help raise awareness of the Hospice so that they can continue helping other families like hers.
Commenting on becoming an Ambassador, Ellie says:
“Thames Hospice provided my Dad with amazing care, making sure he was comfortable and out of pain. We were so lucky to have such a supportive and safe space to spend precious time together in my Dad’s final few weeks.
“The staff at the Hospice have also continued to be there for my Mum, brothers and I since the loss of my Dad, including bereavement counselling support.
“As an ambassador, I am looking forward to using my own experience to raise the profile of the Hospice, so the charity can continue with their amazing work and help other families like mine.”
Thames Hospice cared for Lynne’s beloved husband, Chris, who died in November 2017 after battling prostate cancer for 7 years.
Lynne and Chris loved cats and Lynne adopted five rescue cats from Cyprus and Egypt who are her life and joy. In between working and caring for her large brood of felines, Lynne enjoys cooking, walking and cycling and is a devoted Ambassador for Thames Hospice. Apart from jumping out of a plane, Lynne says she will do anything she can to help the Hospice.
Thames Hospice cared for Kate’s friend, Clare, who died in April 2016 following a courageous battle against Motor Neurone Disease (MND). Their story featured in our very first Christmas Appeal and Kate continues to support us by regularly taking part in Hospice events.
Kate became lifelong friends with Clare through their shared love of the outdoors while both were Guides and Scouts. She became Clare’s voice when Clare lost the ability to speak as a result of MND. Kate lives in Fleet with her husband, has two grown-up daughters and is still fulfilling her love of adventure by organising Girl Guide events and expeditions.
Derek has supported Thames Hospice for many years through his membership of a local Rotary Club. In 2019 his support moved up a notch when he instigated a project involving a number of the local Rotary Clubs, with support from Rotary District 1090 and Rotary International, to raise £60,000 to finance garden furniture for the new Hospice and a training programme for Nursing Assistants and a Clinical Nurse Specialist.
Having also seen the value of the work of the Hospice in supporting several friends and their families in their final days, Derek recently extended his involvement with the Hospice by becoming a volunteer guide for visitors to the Hospice and a promotional speaker at external events.
Derek says:
“Having witnessed the level of comfort, care and support given to both patients and their families during a very sad and stressful period, I am keen to be involved in ensuring that this amazing organisation can continue to supply the highest level of service to the local community.”
Our services are free of charge to all those in our community who need vital hospice care but this is only made possible through the charitable support and generosity of our amazing community. We need to raise £38,363 each day to fund our services 365 days a year to the people who need us most.
We’ve never needed you, our wonderful supporters, more than we need you today. Please donate what you can to help keep hospice care available for those in desperate need.
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