Wow! What a fabulous bunch you are! The last month has shown how everyone connected to the Mac Unit sees a challenge and just rises right on above it…. and that definitely includes our amazing supporters. Despite the limitations of lockdown, lots of you are taking part in fitness challenges, our Barry’s Friday night quizzes (more on that later), lots of family fun and some innovative ways of fundraising at home. Meanwhile, our amazing team of staff and volunteers at the Mac Unit and at The Royal Bournemouth Hospital have been rising right above the many challenges they are facing due to Covid-19. We really could not be more proud of everyone!
As we said in our last post, our team of nurses and doctors have temporarily moved to the Derwent ward at The Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH) to manage all palliative and end of life care for Mac Unit and Covid-19 patients. We really hope to see them back at the Unit soon but we are pleased to report that everyone settled in really well at RBH and the ‘Mac spirit’ has certainly not been lost. Earlier this month, the team organised a wedding blessing for a patient and staff pulled out all the stops to make it a special occasion for the happy couple. As you’ll see from the photo, the room looked fabulous and was made even more special with a view of the lake at RBH. Even with the additional pressures brought about by Covid-19, our team are still working hard to prioritise what matters most to their patients. 
These are worrying times for all of us for many reasons and, of course, as a charity, our priority is ensuring that our brave and dedicated staff have all the support and equipment they need to carry out their jobs safely through this crisis. Every charity now faces a potential drop in funding due to the cancellation of events but we are delighted to say that we have been awarded a grant of £25,000 from the Talbot Village Trust to help with the impact of Covid-19. This donation has given our team a real boost and we are very grateful to the Trustees of the Talbot Village Trust for their support.
Of course, our wonderful supporters in our community are also doing a fantastic job to keep the spirits high within the Mac-team. Thank you to Josh and Liam for your fundraising efforts and delivery of gifts to the unit and to Simon for his amazing static bike ride. Some of you took on the 2.6 Challenge for us and we even saw Dan craft his hair into a blue Mohican to raise funds! Thank you too for all the birthday fundraisers and to everyone who has joined in with Barry’s quiz nights. This is no ordinary kind of quiz night for sure! With various fancy dress outfits, hilarious recreations of tv and film moments, throwbacks to tv gameshow challenges and the introduction of #JuliesLaw, the quiz nights certainly provide some side splitting laughs. Keep an eye on our social media pages and do join us for the next one! It’s free to take part but if you can make a small donation, we would be very grateful.
Until then, we want to reiterate how very grateful we are to all of you for your continued support and kindness. There are more challenge ideas to come but please keep your great ideas for fundraising coming – our nurses, doctors, volunteers and staff always say that hearing about all your support and fundraising gives them a huge boost which now, more than ever, is so important to them all. It’s times like these you do learn to live, give and love, time and time again. Thank you.
Anyone that wishes to make a donation can do so on our website at www.macmillanlocal.org/make-a-donation and if you haven’t already signed up to our newsletter, you can do so at www.macmillanlocal.org/subscribe. You can also read our appeal for support through the Coronavirus at www.macmillanlocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Covid-appeal-260320.pdf
