A nurse, who works at Royal Blackburn Hospital, is aiming to bring comfort to those on end of life care – but she needs to raise money in order to do so.
Ridha Iqbal, who works as a charge nurse at the hospital, has helped to design and enhance end of life comfort boxes, which are used to bring comfort to patients receiving palliative care, as well as their loved ones.
These boxes include items to support both the dying person and those important to them, such as connected hearts and hand print and thumbprint kits to name a few.
They also provide valuable information and guidance for staff to deliver end-of-life care with confidence and compassion.
Last year Ridha worked to enhance the existing resource box, adding items such as notebooks, religious articles, holy water, keepsake poems, and high-quality toiletries.
East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT) staff, Ridha included, are set to embark on a charity walk from Royal Blackburn to Darwen Tower in order to fundraise for this cause.
The walk is set to take place on March 1.
The money will be used to offer the comfort boxes to more wards in the hospital. Funds will also be used to add items to the box, including handprint kits, Quran cubes (a device that can recite the Quran through a speaker) and beyond.
Ridha said: "I have always been very passionate about ensuring the end-of-life experience is the best that it can be and making those important memories that will be treasured by loved ones.
“Our dedicated bereavement and end-of-life team has worked tirelessly to create special memento boxes for every ward.
“These boxes contain items that hold sentimental value and I am eager to support their efforts by raising funds to include additional meaningful items to make that difference.”
Denise Gee, head of charity at ELHT&Me, said: "Ridha has recognised a need and gone above and beyond in her own time to make a real difference to patients in East Lancashire Hospitals.
“We're proud to work alongside such caring and compassionate teams that wish to deliver the very best care."
At the time of writing, more than £472 has been raised in the fundraiser.
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