HOT’s Erica Smith ran the New York Marathon for the Sara Lee Trust
NICCI TALBOT writes:
Sara Lee was just 32 when she died of cancer in Hastings. During her two-year illness she tried various complementary therapies to alleviate the symptoms and help maintain a positive frame of mind.
After she died in 1995 her parents, with the support of friends, set up the Trust in her name to carry on her vision to help others facing the same ordeal.
Fourteen years on, the Trust is still going strong, though since the financial crisis is struggling to meet its targets. Based at St Michael’s Hospice in St Leonards, it provides various therapies free of charge to local people with cancer, motor neurone disease and HIV/Aids. The Trust also extends the service to carers and families of the patients.
Complementary therapy treatments include massage, reflexology, aromatherapy, acupuncture, cranio-sacral therapy, shiatsu, creative visualization, yoga and relaxation.
A creative arts therapy group also meets weekly at various locations in the East Sussex countryside. The sessions explore experiences and metaphors within the cycle of the seasons and solar festivals through creative writing, images, storytelling, and being in nature.
‘I am not afraid to die. I do not want to but I am not afraid. I am afraid of my children seeing me in pain and physically frail. These times together in the wood have enabled me to say this to you, the Sara Lee Trust, you have given me so much.’ A patient who attended the creative arts therapy group.
The Trust also offers Counselling and therapy sessions, and runs monthly sanctuary retreat days inspired by patients’ needs. Other projects have involved working with a local community chef, and a session with a local herbalist.
Patients are referred to the Trust via a GP, Consultant, Hospice at Home, or Practice Nurse. Sarah Geall, the Centre’s Therapeutic Manager will liaise with a patient and their family and decide on an appropriate course of complementary therapy.
‘We believe that by offering a wide range of therapies our patients have the best opportunity to access treatments and therapies which will help them in many ways,’ says Maria Gonet, Fundraising Manager at the Trust. ‘We also have a community therapist who is able to visit people in their homes if they meet the criteria.’
“Being able to leave someone peacefully resting in their own home environment again is a special aspect of our service which is much appreciated.”
The Trust relies solely on donations from patients, their families and the public; it does not receive any state funding. Each year it needs to raise £190,000 to keep the Centre operating at full capacity. It aims to provide over 2,500 treatments a year to patients in palliative care.
HOT contributor Erica Smith ran the New York Marathon on November 1st 2009, to raise funds for the Trust. ‘I chose to to run for the Sara Lee Trust because it is a small local charity. Sara Lee was a woman of my age who died of cancer. Like most small charities, its future is often uncertain and it is particularly in need of funds during times of recession.’
You can sponsor Erica direct, or via her fundraising page on the Just Giving charity website. Read her NYC Marathon blog.
Contact the Sara Lee Trust: For further information about the Sara Lee Trust and how you can get involved in fundraising activities, contact Maria Gonet on 01424 456608 or email maria@saraleetrust.org.uk
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