Trustees of the Louis Baylis Charitable Trust given tour of new Thames Hospice

Trustees of the Louis Baylis Trust and the chief executive of Baylis Media were given a guided tour of the new Thames Hospice on Monday.

Patients and visitors were welcomed through the doors of the new state-of-the-art facility at Bray Lake for the first-time last week.

Set beside the lake and surrounded by eight acres of landscaped gardens, the hospice replaces the charity’s former Pine Lodge hospice in Hatch Lane, Windsor.

The Louis Baylis Trust, which owns the Maidenhead Advertiser, donated a grant of £115,000 to the £22million project, which was spent on creating The Louis Baylis Rehabilitation Centre.

During their tour of the hospice, given by Thames Hospice chief executive, Debbie Raven, the trustees and Baylis Media CEO, Jeremy Spooner, got to see the centre for themselves.

To show them round was Thames Hospice physiotherapist, Suki Ramachandran, who used to treat patients at Pine Lodge in their rooms with minimal equipment.

Suki said: “I really need to thank you for all your generous support, for all the equipment we have.

“We have been wanting these things for a long time and its really beneficial for all the patients.”

Suki went on to explain the purpose of the centre’s equipment, including a ‘Motomed’ which helps strengthen the arms and legs simultaneously, a treadmill and parallel bars.

Chairman of trustees, Peter Sands, said: “It’s a great facility and I’m delighted we’ve been able to help in a modest way to provide an add-on to the facilities, a very important add-on.”

Overall, he was ‘blown away’ by the hospice and at the conclusion of the tour he thanked Debbie, and everyone involved, for working ‘above and beyond’ in making the new hospice a reality for the community.

“I think everyone appreciates all the hard work from Debbie and her team to get this massive project to its conclusion,” he said.

“It must have been a real trial to try and run a hospice at the same time of organising a new-build and a move.”

Baylis Media CEO, Jeremy Spooner added: “The new hospice facility is truly amazing, so much seems to have been achieved in a very short period of time and my praise goes to all those involved in making this happen.

“Our community is blessed to have such a resource.”

Clare Cross, head of therapy services said the Louis Baylis Rehabilitation Centre will enable the hospice to ‘reach a lot more people with complex problems during and following their treatment’.

“By assessing patient’s needs and then tailoring an exercise programme designed for the individual to maintain their strength and mobility.

“This can be of immense value to the wellbeing and quality of life allowing them to reach their personal goals and spend more time with their loved ones.”