By Sue Dickens for The Community Press
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Dr. Bob Stephens, chair of the hospice s fundraising campaign, accepts a cheque for $5,000 toward the Bridge Hospice from local author and historian Aureen Richardson. Photo by Sue Dickens/For Community Press
A target of $350,000 has been set and hopes are the hospice will be up and running this fall.
“It’s a much needed facility. I know what benefits this can provide for the community,” Dr. Bob Stephens, chair of the hospice’s fundraising campaign, said in accepting the cheque.
The hospice, which will serve the needs of the dying and their families in Northumberland County, has quietly been raising money the past year.
When approached by Stephens to see if she would be interested in donating to the hospice, Richardson’s response was: “If there are good things I can do I will help and I think this is a good thing.”
She has donated to worthwhile causes in the past such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and a Venture Van, for those with disabilities who need transportation in Trent Hills.
The Richardson donation marks the start of a push for a much more public campaign to raise the rest of the money that’s needed.
“We began our campaign in 2009 by approaching local families and were delighted when Richardson and her family said they would donate,” said Joan Sampson, who is in charge of publicity for the hospice.
“On giving her gift to us she stated that she was thrilled to be able to play a significant part in the development of a much-needed hospice which will serve the people of this whole area.”
The Richardson family has a long history associated with Northumberland County.
“My mom was a teacher for 40 years, she started in a one room school teaching at age 17 in Percy Township SS No. 10,” said Ray, one of Aureen Richardson’s sons.
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“She is an amazing lady who came from basically nothing and had to work her way through life.”
His mother was always active in the community. For 50 years, beginning in 1949, she submitted reports to local newspapers on various aspects of community life, including churches, the disabled, local history, seniors’ events, and travel.
She was responsible for getting the province to erect plaques dedicated to St. James Anglican Church (Roseneath), Alderville First Nation Reserve, Warkworth Cheese Country, and the Richardson archaeological site, to name a few.
Richardson also wrote three books, “Weaving on the Family Loom: An Anthology of Northumberland County Families”, “Historic Visions of J.D. Kelly”, and “Warkworth Cheese Country”.
She and her husband Raymond had two sons Ray and Richard. Now 78, she lives at the Community Nursing Home Warkworth.
Richardson inherited a rare neurological disease, familial spastic paraplegia, and because of this has been an advocate for the disabled throughout her life.
She was a leader in Campbellford’s More Able Than Disabled Club, a member of the Quinte Writers’ Guild and the Ontario Historical Society, and a regular Elderhostel participant. She received her BA from Trent University in 1974.
“She won an award from the Ontario Historical Society for some of her writings, for her work with the Percy Historical Society,” her son said.
Her health has remained fairly good but, “she has had a couple of bad spells recently – and even though her body was atrophied – her mind was always bright. Just before Christmas she had a bad spell but rallied again. She is a determined lady,” Ray told The Community Press.
Her donation is something that the whole family supports.
“I think in this time when our health system is under continual pressure and budget concerns it is nice to having something that is community supported,” he said.
“We are all aging and we know the system is strained and we know that a hospice is an important thing – it lets families and friends take care of and see their loved ones and they can pass away with dignity. We all feel better for that.”
The hope of the Richardsons is that, “by announcing the donation it encourages other people to participate. One person doing it alone is not the point, this could be a shared venture with other people in the community, who having seen the example set by my mom, would consider contributing as well,” Ray said.
Corinne Patterson, president of the Percy Historical Society in Warkworth, said Aureen “has been involved with the historical society for many many years. She was always giving lectures and talks until she wasn’t so well to be walking around, but she had many years of service with the society. She is quite missed at our meetings. When someone needs to know information we still go to Aureen because she is still a holder of that knowledge.”
The hospice, when completed, will be the only freestanding residential hospice in the county. Enough money has been raised to purchase land and committees of volunteers are working hard to complete plans for the building.
“It will have three bedrooms, a living and dining room area and kitchen as well as a small office,” said Dr. Stephens.
A hospice committee is working with the Trent Hills Family Health Team and Campbellford Memorial Hospital. “We’ll be co-operating with local health care providers to ensure a seamless transition between services,” Sampson said.
The hospice will serve the residents of the area free of charge in what is being described as a “serene, home-like setting.”
For more information visit www.thebridgehospice.com or call 705-924-9222.
