About St Columba's

Contacts

About St Columba's

Origins:

St Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh, opened in 1977 as a 15-bed unit in Challenger House, an original Georgian building overlooking the Firth of Forth at Granton.

It has developed and expanded since then to provide a modern, comprehensive range of care services within its much-extended buildings and in the wider community.

Commitment:

What has not changed is the commitment to provide free, high quality care to all those who need it, and to do so with compassion, honesty and integrity.

At St Columba’s, every patient is treated with dignity and their wishes are respected. An individual care programme is devised to meet particular needs and each patient is encouraged to participate in preparing it.

The hospice strives to keep patients informed of the progress of their illness in a sensitive and honest manner, recognising that each individual may have a different understanding of their disease.

The care is delivered by a highly skilled, multi-professional team whose task is to create an environment of mutual respect between all of the staff and those in their care.

Fundraising:

To make sure every minute counts for the patients and their relatives, St Columba’s Hospice needs your help.

All of St Columba’s services are provided to patients free of charge - but the services still have to be paid for, largely through donations and fundraising activities.

Because of its high staff to patient ratio, hospice care is expensive to run. The annual cost of running St Columba’s Hospice topped the £4 million mark some time ago - these costs are now approaching £5 million.

In the coming year, NHS Lothian will give a grant of £1.25 million but St Columba’s need your help to raise the £3.75 million that will allow it to continue the essential work.

The good news is - there are lots of ways for you to help.

If you are an individual or an organisation, you can help in many ways such as by taking part in one of the Events or Challenges, by purchasing products from the hospice or by giving a donation on a regular basis.

Go to www.stcolumbashospice.org.uk to find out more about the hospice and its work.