At St Oswald’s Hospice, we aim to be an organisation of people who are led by our Values – a place where everyone feels welcome whoever they are, whether they are cared for by us, employed by us, volunteer for us or support us in any way.
As part of that commitment, we’re proud to work with Haref – a Newcastle-based network that helps reduce health inequalities and improve access to health and wellbeing services for ethnically marginalised communities.
This work supports our Hospice Strategy 2023–2027, which sets out our ambition to reach more people who may not usually access hospice care and to make sure our services truly reflect the diverse communities we serve.
Learning and connecting through Haref
Our Haref Allies – Christine Allen, Clinical Quality Lead, Susan Freeman, Head of Volunteering and Davina Radford, Spiritual Care and Community Projects Lead – are helping us learn and take meaningful action to make St Oswald’s Hospice a more inclusive place for everyone.
Christine, who became a Haref Ally in 2022, says the experience has been both eye-opening and rewarding
Through the connection with ‘Better’, our Lymphoedema patients have been able to find new, supported ways to stay active and well – a great example of how partnership working can make a real difference.
Susan, also joined as an Ally in 2022 while still working in our Retail team.
Davina’s time with Haref is already inspiring change within our hospice:
Putting our values into practice
Leigh Marrs, Head of Learning and Organisational Development and Chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Group (EDI) said:
“Being part of Haref helps us to understand the experiences of communities who may not always find it easy to access care, and to learn how we can do better. It’s helping us live out our values and make sure that St Oswald’s Hospice truly is a place of, as our tagline says, ‘Quality Time for Everyone’, where everyone feels welcome, whoever they are.”
The insights gained through Haref continue to shape our EDI, Community and Partnership work – helping us ensure that our services, opportunities and spaces reflect the diversity of the people we care for.
We’re proud of our Allies and the part they play in helping us build a more inclusive hospice, where everyone feels they belong.
