Willow Burn Hospice

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Willow Burn Hospice

Willow Burn Hospice treasures the lives of people whose illnesses are no longer curable.

Willow Burn Hospice treasures the lives of people whose illnesses are no longer curable, enabling them to achieve the best quality of life. Our local hospice services provide a friendly and supportive environment in which everyone feels welcome. Willow Burn Hospice is well known locally for its commitment to service quality, compassion for the people that it serves and integrity to the community and to the staff and volunteers. Willow Burn Hospice opened in 1989 as a result of two remarkable women, Irene Mortimer and Valerie Davison, who identified a local gap in the service of hospice care and with the support of the Secretary of State set up Day Hospice Care with the help of funding from Macmillan. The Willow Burn Day Hospice service was expanded in 1991 to include in-patient services and in 2014, we opened Phase 1 of our new building project, thanks to funding from Sir Tom Cowie. That brings us to present day, and following a very generous donation from Helen McArdle CBE, we have opened our new six-bed hospice which is home to:

Luxury in-patient accommodation
Day Services
Overnight family room
Family Support and Bereavement Service
Child Bereavement Support Services
Innovative Health and Wellbeing Services
The Willows Community Café

Patient’s comfort and care is very important to us, which is why the new Willow Burn Hospice has been designed with patient experience in mind. Each of the six ensuite bedrooms are well-equipped for all of your needs, as well as being beautifully appointed to ensure rest and relaxation. Each room has its own private balcony and the portable beds can be moved to the balcony upon request. Patients also have access to a large luxurious spa bathroom equipped with a hydrotherapy bath, television and music, everything you might need for a relaxing soak in the bath. Most members of the local population have been touched in one way or another by the hospice, either by direct or indirect contact with the facility. This gives the community a real sense of local ownership which is evident in all aspects of the service from patients and their families, fundraising contributions received by the hospice and in the numbers of volunteers gifting their time, skills and knowledge to the facility.

04/11/2026

🎄 Can you help make our Nurses' Christmas Fair a success? 🎄

We're looking for donations of raffle and tombola prizes for our Nurses' Christmas Fair on Saturday 28 November.

If you have any new, unused gifts you'd like to donate, we'd love to hear from you. Items such as gift sets, chocolates, bottles, vouchers, toys and festive gifts are all greatly appreciated.

Every prize donated will help us raise vital funds to support local patients and families cared for by Willow Burn Hospice.

Donations can be dropped off at Willow Burn Hospice reception.

Thank you for supporting your local hospice 💚

02/11/2026

Carrying on from our pumpkin theme at the weekend. Thank you Caroline and the Crown And Crossed Swords 💚

🎃We might be a little late announcing this one, but our Staff Halloween Pumpkin Competition winner is... CAROLINE! 👏

And what an entry! An absolutely fabulous Dolly Parton, complete with the big hair, leopard print and all the sparkle. A brilliant tribute to a very special lady! 💗

But in true Caroline fashion, she's decided that rather than keeping the £30 cash prize, she'd like to donate it to Willow Burn Hospice. ❤️

For those who know Caroline, this probably won't come as a surprise. She's one of those people who is always thinking of others and never does anything by halves. Whether it's pulling out all the stops with her Halloween fancy dress, creating this magnificent Dolly for our pumpkin wall or all the countless little things she does behind the scenes, she always goes that extra mile to make The Crown a brighter, happier place.

It's often the little things that say the most about a person, and this is a lovely example of exactly that. We're very lucky to have someone like Caroline as part of our team.

Her pumpkin asked the question "What Would Dolly Do?" Well, we think Caroline has given us a pretty good answer... spread a little love, make someone smile and, whenever you can, do something good for someone else. ❤️

Well done, Caroline. A very well deserved win, and thank you for everything you do! 💗

01/11/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out to film with The Buskers and Friends for their 'Canny Christmas' charity single in aid of Willow Burn Hospice.

Such a fantastic turnout on this chilly Sunday afternoon - it was great to see so many of you and your four legged friends too.

That's the first event of the season for Willow Burn, we look forward to sharing more with you over the next two months 🎅🎄

31/10/2026

The moment you’ve been waiting for! 🎃

Our Day Service friends put so much creativity into this year’s Pumpkin Competition and choosing was no easy task.

Take a look at our reel to find out the winners 🏆

Well done to everyone who took part. Happy Halloween from all of us at Willow Burn

31/10/2026

We never forget our Pumpkin King on Halloween 🎃

This year, our Day Service friends came together once more for their annual Pumpkin Competition and, of course, we made one for Andrew 💚

Watch out later today when we reveal the winning designs! 👀

29/10/2026

Light Up a Life 2026

This weekend is your final opportunity to make a dedication for special at our Light Up a Life Service. Dedications close on Monday 2 November.

Join us at Lanchester Methodist Church on Sunday 6 December at 2.00pm for an afternoon of carols, readings and a candle-lighting ceremony. It’s a time to reflect, remember and celebrate the family members, friends and loved ones who remain forever in our hearts. Refreshments will be served afterwards and everyone in the community is welcome.

To make a dedication by Monday 2 November: add the names of those you’d like to remember in the message box when you donate and they’ll be included in our printed Remembrance Book:
https://willowburnhospice.org.uk/our-events/light-up-a-life-2026

📧 Unable to donate right now? Please don’t worry. Simply email Ali English with your dedications by 2 November: [email protected]

28/10/2026

This Sunday at 3pm at Blackhill and Consett Park - meet us down there to be part of The Buskers and Friends Christmas Single video for Willow Burn Hospice 💚

27/10/2026

Last Thursday was our quarterly Sip & Shop at Willow Burn Boutique and we were delighted when the lovely Beth popped by to see what she could get for £30! 🛍️

If you haven’t visited Willow Burn Boutique in Lanchester, pop by and see what you can find within your budget to make that spend go further. Every purchase helps support the care provided by Willow Burn Hospice, so you can find something fabulous and do some good at the same time. 💚

Thank you, Beth, for stopping by and sharing your finds! Beth - My Chaotic Life

📍 Willow Burn Boutique, Croft View, Lanchester
Open this week 9am - 4pm and from next week 9.30am - 4pm

22/10/2026

If you'd like to be part of The Buskers and Friends video for this year's Christmas single, watch our page tomorrow for updates 💚

***ANNOUNCEMENT***

Hopefully you remember last year when The Buskers and Friends recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas" in aid of Willow Burn Hospice and raised nearly £11k.

This year, we've written our own song, called 'Canny Christmas' about our amazing community and we'd like you to be a part of it.

We have the same team of amazing performers Corbin Drums, Soul Street, Graeme Richardson, Dave Ditchburn, Edward Mcdonald, Rubysinger, Miranda Newton Solo Artist, Ellie Caile Live Lee Harrison Music and this year, we're joined by Callum Donnison Music and Jodi Milligan Live

But what should the target be this year? Times are tough, but can we beat last year?

And would you like to feature in the video? Tag someone you think should be involved!

Address

Maiden Law Hospital, Howden Bank
Durham
DH70QS

Website

http://www.willowburnhospice.org.uk/

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