Charity Support
Every year Princesshay supports a local charity. From April 2024 – March 2025 the Charity partner for the year will be Exeter Leukaemia Fund.
About ELF:
Exeter Leukaemia Fund (ELF) is an independent local charity proud to support families affected by blood cancer and related conditions in Devon.
Blood cancer can affect anybody of any age, meaning we need to support anybody of all ages. Treatment for blood cancer often requires lengthy procedures meaning days, weeks, or months at a time in and out of hospital and, in a lot of cases, years of follow up appointments. Over 3,000 people will be diagnosed with a haematological cancer this year in the Southwest.
ELF’s vision is that every family affected by blood cancers and blood disorders across Devon receives compassionate, tailored support. ELF led the fundraising efforts to create the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital’s Haematology Centre, which opened in 2003, and continues to support the centre alongside the hundreds of patients which attend it each week. ELF supports families from diagnosis, through treatment and beyond.
ELF provides:
- A Patient Liaison to assist patients and families.
- Counselling services for patients and their family members (including children).
- Transport to and from hospital appointments.
- Aromatherapy treatment for patients staying on the ward.
- Complimentary refreshments from our ‘Filling Time’ kiosk in the Haematology Reception area.
- Accommodation in local hotels for outpatients undertaking consecutive days of treatment.
- Financial support grants and legal advice.
- Training and development opportunities for NHS staff to ensure the best possible haematology care in Devon.
- Funds to purchase medical equipment and upgrade facilities at the Hospital’s Haematology Centre.
In recent years ELF’s main focus has been growing our wellbeing services for local families to support an increasing number of families affected by mental health and financial hardship. The services developed include counselling, patient support groups, patient art therapy, and financial support services.
ELF’s counselling service provides support to patients throughout diagnosis, treatment and in the dealing of day-to-day worries which cause severe strain on an individual’s mental health. We also assist family members coming to terms with the diagnosis of a loved one, the physical strain of supporting their treatment journey, and, in some sad instances, bereavement counselling. We’ve also introduced support groups giving people that are going through similar cancer journeys the opportunity to talk and meet new people. Practical support groups such as art therapy workshops, also provide a safe space for patients to socialise and avert their minds through creativity.
Finances can have a severe effect on a family’s wellbeing, particularly when long periods away from work may be required during treatment. In answer to the cost-of-living crisis, ELF introduced a Patient Support Grant Programme to support families facing financial hardship.
In 2023 we issued 12 emergency grants to local families, including a grandmother with a life-limiting prognosis, who needed funds to purchase hearing aids which allowed her to hear her grandchildren during the last months of her life. We provided a grant to a single parent receiving palliative care, whose eldest child was due to become legal guardian of the younger children. The Grant enabled them to pay rent arrears, keeping them housed while they prepared for an exceedingly difficult future. Before Christmas we also supported a family of four (including a 4-year-old leukaemia patient) who had been cooking family meals in a microwave for months as they could not afford to replace their broken oven.
Get in touch with the ELF team.
Website: www.elfcharity.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/elfcharity
Instagram: www.instagram.com/elfcharity
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/exeter-leukaemia-fund
