>January Events / Events in Norfolk and Suffolk / Health & Wellbeing / Tourist Attractions Norfolk and Suffolk January 9, 2019
The Pear Tree Fund
A much-loved charity which offers emotional, physical and practical support to people reaching the end of their lives is marking the new year by changing its name and launching a brand new website.
Halesworth Community Nursing Care Fund (HCNCF) has changed its name to the Pear Tree Fund, while its new website can be found at www.peartreefund.org.
The name change comes as the charity prepares for work to begin on its £880,000 Pear Tree Centre, which will bring vital information and support closer to home for people with life-limiting illnesses. Inspiration for the charity’s new name has come from a pear tree which is well-established on the construction site and will stand in the centre’s grounds once work is complete.
The new website has been designed to be clear, easy to navigate and packed with information about the charity and upcoming fundraising activities. It also gives visitors the chance to make a donation, read the latest news or learn more about the Pear Tree Centre, which will be built on land next to Cutlers Hill Surgery in Halesworth and open in late 2019.
Ted Edwards, co-chairman of the Pear Tree Centre project, said: “We are delighted that we are in a position to celebrate the start of the new year by revealing our name change and launching our website. We hope that this new, overarching name will be easy for people to remember while also making it clear that the two branches of our charity – the fund and centre – are linked and both provided by the same group of dedicated trustees, with the excellent support of committee members and charity shop volunteers.
“This is great news at the start of what promises to be a hugely exciting year for the Pear Tree Fund. Not only will we be celebrating our 30th anniversary, but work is also due to start on our much-anticipated resource centre in the coming days.
“We would like to take this opportunity once again to thank local people for their generosity and ongoing support. We will make sure we keep everyone informed of progress as we watch the Pear Tree Centre rise from the ground.”
Once open, anyone from north east Suffolk or south Norfolk with cancer or other life-limiting illnesses, along with their families and carers, will be welcome to use the Pear Tree Centre. As well as help understanding a diagnosis, it will also offer family services, a raft of information and practical advice on finance, benefits and coping with bereavement.
The centre will include space for local support groups to meet, a counselling room, small library and a comfortable area where people can relax and chat informally. A therapy room where patients can receive complementary treatments, such as Reiki and massage, will also be available, along with a landscaped garden to help promote wellbeing.
Over the first few months of the construction work, people using Cutlers Hill Surgery and the Patrick Stead building may notice extra traffic using the site, as lorries will be making deliveries and taking away excavated material. Although every effort will be made to keep disruption to an absolute minimum, the Pear Tree Fund trustees would like to apologise in advance for any difficulties this may cause.
The Pear Tree Fund, formerly known as Halesworth Community Nursing Care Fund, was set up 30 years ago to support people with life-limiting illnesses who wish to die in the comfort and security of their own homes.
It works alongside the NHS and social services to provide extra equipment and 24 hour care in the last days of life along with emotional, physical and practical support at the time when people need it the most.
For more information, please visit www.peartreefund.org, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, both @ThePearTreeFund
