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The keys to the centre have been handed over. What a journey it's been. You can see our story unfold on our Pinterest board.

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The centre has been handed over...

The Louise Hamilton Centre was officially handed over by the architects LSI, and the ISG construction team, on December 13.

And what a job they've all done. The centre looks fantastic, just stunning. A warm, welcoming place for healing and hope.  

Over the next few weeks the centre will be kitted out with furniture and IT equipment and in January we'll be getting staff and volunteers familiarised with the centre.

We'll be rolling out the services from January on a phased basis to give everyone time to get to know the centre and get settled in.

The winter sun really lights up the courtyard garden of the Louise Hamilton Centre in this panoramic picture below

 

Building work nears its end

December 10, 2012 and the building work will soon be finished. Remember when it was all just drawings and plans? Well, architects LSI and builders ISG have turned all that into the real thing.

We'll be on track to open in January, get the staff and volunteer training done, and start rolling out the services to support carers, patients and all those affected by end-of-life illnesses in Great Yarmouth and Waveney.

Shine a Light for loved ones

’Shine a Light’ is one of the Palliative Care East appeal’s first annual events to give on-going charitable support to the Louise Hamilton Centre. 

As we approach the end of another year, it is time for many of us to celebrate the joy of Christmas, but for all of us to reflect on the passing year, and our thoughts of loved ones is especially close to our hearts.

December also marks the completion of building work on the centre at the James Paget University Hospital. The Louise Hamilton Centre will be a legacy to be carried forward for many years to come.  So many local people have contributed to this, a celebration in its own right – so help us celebrate with a light. 

If you would like to remember someone special to you or if you just wish to show your support, please use the form opposite to tell us the name of the person whose life you are commemorating and your dedication. This is listed on the  ‘Shine a Light’ page in the menu to the right. 

Dedications are offered freely by the centre as a thank you to our whole community, however we would ask you to consider making a voluntary donation to continue the funding of the centre - all donations are very gratefully received.

Please take a few minutes to fill in our survey

The Louise Hamilton Centre will open its doors in January and we'd like to know what you think about what the centre will offer. It'll only take a minute we promise.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PCE

November morning sunshine

A beautiful mid-November morning and work is underway on the main pathway to the Louise Hamilton Centre and to the grounds. We do like the colour co-ordinating car in the foreground.

First supportive and palliative care centre of its kind in the region gears up for launch of new services

Local charities and the NHS in Great Yarmouth and Waveney are teaming up to launch services in the new £1.5 million Louise Hamilton Centre in Gorleston.

The centre, believed to be the first of its kind in East Anglia, will provide supportive and palliative care for patients and families whose lives are affected by a life-limiting or progressive illness. Located in the grounds of the James Paget University Hospital the new centre, funded by the Palliative Care East appeal, will open in January 2013.

Some patients and their families live with an illness and its effects for many years and need emotional and practical support. For illnesses where a cure is not possible the focus is on quality of life to help them come to terms with the situation and to live their lives as fully as possible.

The Louise Hamilton Centre will provide specialist palliative care services, advice and support including welfare and money matters, therapy groups, a variety of information about health conditions, support for carers and will also offer complementary and relaxation therapies.

The centre will also act as the hub for a network of supportive and palliative care services across Great Yarmouth and Waveney and will help signpost people towards community-based services, including the new Big C centre in Great Yarmouth.

Dr Bernadette Auger, consultant in palliative care at the James Paget, said: “The Louise Hamilton Centre gives us a fantastic environment to meet patients, talk with families, and to help us support their physical and emotional needs. The centre is part of our vision for enhancing existing palliative care services in Great Yarmouth and Waveney.”

Maggie Parsons, Cancer and End Of Life Programme Manager at HealthEast, said: “Commissioning this new service was one of the priorities identified by local stakeholders from the Marie Curie Delivering Choice programme. It is a really positive step towards truly integrated palliative care across Great Yarmouth and Waveney. As well as providing a wide range of supportive services a key aspect will also be signposting patients and their carers to other existing services across all local care settings, to ensure that patients and carers receive the care and support they need.”

Jane Petit, chief executive of St Elizabeth Hospice, said: "St Elizabeth Hospice is investing £2.2 million over a three-year period into the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area to provide hospice services for local people. Our vision is to provide care close to people's homes, through partnership working, recruiting local staff and avoiding duplication of services and our involvement in the Louise Hamilton Centre helps us move this forward."

The services will be supported by a wide variety of partners in the Louise Hamilton Centre, including:

• Alzheimer’s Society

• Big C

• British Heart Foundation

• Crossroads Care Services

• Cruse Bereavement Support

• East Coast Community Healthcare

• Great Yarmouth and Waveney Specialist Palliative Care Team

• James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Macmillan Cancer Support

• Marie Curie Cancer Care

• Neurological condition charities

• NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group

• Norfolk County Council

• Norfolk Family Carers

• St. Elizabeth Hospice

• Suffolk Family Carers

Facebook page for the Louise Hamilton Centre

The £1.5 million Louise Hamilton Centre for supportive and palliative care at the James Paget University Hospital now has its own Facebook page.

The centre, funded by the Palliative Care East appeal, will provide a much needed information and supportive care centre for everyone in the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area who needs advice and support from diagnosis, during treatment, into survivorship or through to palliative care of any life-limiting or progressive illness.

Now people can find out more about the centre on the social media website www.facebook.com/louisehamiltoncentre

The new centre will open in January and give patients, carers, friends and family a calm and comforting place, filled with light, and where people can have time and space, away from a hospital environment, to get the information, advice and support they need.  The centre brings together a range of organisations from NHS services to charities and support groups, all working in partnership to provide patients, carers, families and friends with support and practical advice.

Supportive and palliative care supports patients and families whose lives are affected by a life-limiting or progressive illness. Some people will carry on living with their illness for many years and will require emotional and practical support in doing so.  For illnesses where a cure is not possible then an holistic approach to care helps patients and families to come to terms with the situation and to live their lives as fully as possible.

12 weeks and counting...

Only 12 weeks and counting now until completion of construction work on the Louise Hamilton Centre at the James Paget University Hospital.

This picture shows work underway on the grounds outside the centre. All very autumnal sunshine too. And so generously funded by local people through the £1.5 million Palliative Care East Appeal.

Architects LSI have done a great job with the design and ISG are doing a fantastic job of building the new centre. Doors will open to the public in January.

Panoramic views of the centre

We've been playing around with the new panoramic option on the camera. The Louise Hamilton Centre panorama-style.

Exclusive look inside the Louise Hamilton Centre

Nice write up in the Great Yarmouth Mercury with an exclusive look inside the new Louise Hamilton Centre at the James Paget University Hospital.

http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/campaigners_get_first_look_inside_gorleston_s_louise_
hamilton_centre_1_1525630

Soon be time for topping out...

On Friday 21 September the Louise Hamilton Centre will be topped out.  Topping out marks an important milestone in the delivery of a construction project and means the building has reached its highest point.

It's an opportunity for the contractors ISG and the architects LSI Architects to mark a big milestone in the construction project. The £1.5 million centre, generously funded by the local public through the Palliative Care East appeal, will be open its doors in the New Year.

The centre will be a safe haven, a place where people can get help, advice and support when they most need it. A wide range of organisations work together to provide the services.

The centre will provide support including advice on money matters, therapy groups, reliable information about health conditions, support for carers and also offers complementary and relaxation therapies.   

Partners in the Louise Hamilton Centre:

James Paget University Hospital

HealthEast

NHS Norfolk and Waveney

East Coast Community Healthcare

Big C

Macmillan Cancer Support

St. Elizabeth Hospice

Cruse Bereavement Support

Marie Curie Cancer Care

Crossroads Care Services

Norfolk County Council

Suffolk County Council

Halesworth Community Nursing Care Fund

Suffolk and Norfolk Family Carers

British Heart Foundation

Breathe Easy Support Group

Motor Neurone Disease Association

Multiple Sclerosis Society

Alzheimer Society

Huntington’s Disease Association

End of the summer

It's the end of the summer and it's a small detail but the windows are going in on the Louise Hamilton Centre. The building will soon be weather-proof.

And the centre was all yellow...

Almost the end of August and the distinctive yellow render is being applied to the Louise Hamilton Centre at the James Paget.

Blue skies and white clouds in August

We are now in August and the exterior work on the Louise Hamilton Centre is really cracking on. You can begin to see how the building will look when finished. Here's to more blue skies for the rest of the summer.

Discover what the aims of the appeal are for people affected by life-limiting illnesses

If you want to have a look back at what the aims of the Louise Hamilton Centre and Palliative Care East appeal are all about, it's useful to watch this video from 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/user/LouiseHamiltonCentre

Loved ones lost to be remembered at Louise Hamilton Centre

The lives of loved ones lost will be remembered by generous donations made by local people, businesses and charities in the new Louise Hamilton Centre.

Great Yarmouth and Waveney’s new palliative information and supportive care centre at the James Paget University Hospital will be complete in December.

The Louise Hamilton Centre, funded by the Palliative Care East appeal, will give local people access to information, advice and support about life-limiting illnesses. The centre is being named after Gorleston woman Louise Hamilton, who tragically died aged 28 of breast cancer.

Advice about clinical information, complementary therapies and money matters will be provided in a calm and comforting centre. The rooms and communal spaces in the Louise Hamilton Centre have also been generously sponsored and will carry the following names:

Rooms:

• Lowestoft Charities Board
• Maggie Watson – in memory of Tom Watson
• Maggie Watson – in memory of Tom Watson
• Bob and Joan Ship/Snowdrop
• Louise Hamilton Trust
• George Darling/Gardline – in memory of George Darling
• Zoiyar Cole and Janet Ellis – in memory of Paul Cole
• Jazos – in memory of Paul Cole
• Louise Hamilton Trust
• Julia Bolch – in memory of Richard Bolch
• The Buzz Team   

Communal spaces have been supported by the following:

• Garden – Tremaine Kent – in memory of Carla Saunders
• Lounge - Potters Leisure Resort 
• Kitchen - Friends Charity Shop

The centre will also have a beautiful Butterfly artwork wall that was funded by generous donations. 

Fundraising co-ordinator Jenny Watson said: “We couldn’t have got here without a real community spirit and without local people really taking this appeal to their hearts.

We are truly grateful to each and every person who has donated. The appeal will keep going to support the Louise Hamilton Centre when we open and the many people who will benefit from its services.”

Louise Hamilton Centre shortlisted for top public relations award

Great Yarmouth and Waveney's new palliative information and supportive care centre at the James Paget University Hospital has also been shortlisted for a prestigious public relations award.

The Palliative Care East appeal is funding the £1.5 million Louise Hamilton Centre. The centre is due to open in December and will be used by around 10,000 people a year.

The Louise Hamilton Centre is shortlisted by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) in the category of Best Not for Profit campaign for work done by Andrew Stronach Communications.

The CIPR East Anglia finals take place on October 11, 2012 at Ickworth House, near Bury St Edmunds.

Louise Hamilton Centre features on Pinterest

Norfolk’s new palliative information and support centre can now be found one of the world’s fastest growing social media websites.

The Louise Hamilton Centre at the James Paget University Hospital now has a board on Pinterest - a pinboard-style social media website that allows users to create and manage pictures.

The Pinterest board tells the story of the Palliative Care East appeal and shows in pictures the design and construction of the Louise Hamilton Centre.


The new £1.5 million centre, based at the James Paget University Hospital, will be finished in December. The appeal is providing Great Yarmouth and Waveney with a stunning information centre that will help people with life-limiting illnesses such as cancer, respiratory, neurological, and cardiac diseases.

 The centre will host a range of information and supportive care services provided by a wide range of organisations working in partnership: from the NHS, to local cancer charities, patient support groups, and bereavement groups.

 You can find the Louise Hamilton Centre on Pinterest at http://bit.ly/lhcentre

Mid-July and work on the centre cracks on

Finally. Blue skies. Rain hasn't stopped work on the Louise Hamilton Centre.

July and the brickwork's going up

Work continues apace on the new Louise Hamilton Centre. The brickwork is going up and the structure of the main living space in the centre has taken shape.

It's an ark

The Louise Hamilton Centre is being funded by the Palliative Care East appeal and the building at the James Paget University Hospital is really taking shape now.

The architects, LSI, designed it like an ark - a refuge or place of healing for all those affected by end-of-life illnesses. You can see from today's picture that it does look a bit like a boat is being built...