A Profile of the Sara Lee Trust

A Charity Offering Holistic Therapies to Patients in Palliative Care

Sep 19, 2009

October is national breast cancer awareness month. This article profiles the work of the Sara Lee Trust, a charity for cancer, MND and HIV/Aids patients and carers.

The Sara Lee Trust is a registered charity based in East Sussex that provides holistic therapies for cancer, motor neurone disease and HIV/Aids patients and carers.

The trust was set up in memory of Sara Lee; a local resident who died of cancer aged 32. For the last two years of her life Sara used complementary therapies to help alleviate pain, and to maintain a positive mental approach to her illness. Her vision was that a trust be set up to enable patients with cancer, motor neurone disease, and HIV/Aids and their carers to receive the support and benefit that complementary therapies offer. After she died her friends and family set up the trust in her honour.

The trust is now in its 14th year and based within St Michael’s Hospice, in St Leonards on Sea. It supports patients throughout their illness and provides over 2,500 treatments annually. It also gives patients at the hospice and another local hospital, Rye Memorial, access to complementary therapies.

'It is a living memorial for a much-loved daughter, whose potential was never realised, who in her illness and death gave an example of courage that many of her friends and family will never forget,’ says Sara’s mother Sally Lee, who was Chairman of the trust until recently.

What Therapies Does the Sara Lee Trust Offer?

There is a full and varied programme which gives patients and their carers access to: -

Patients are referred to the trust via their doctor, consultant or Macmillan nurse. Treatment sessions are normally a block of four to 10 lasting an hour each. The trust also has a community therapist who can visit a patient’s home if she meets the criteria.

What Do the Patients Think?

‘I receive a service from the Trust which works holistically to make me feel better in myself and the repercussions of this ripple out – my children 7 and 14 benefit, my husband – my carer’s life is improved, my wonderfully supportive sisters’ aren’t so stressed, and I’m not crying on the phone to my 80 year-old mother.

‘Some people can’t look me in the eye or talk about cancer let alone help or begin to understand the repercussions of the disease. The trust offers safe, quiet spaces, and people who understand the limitations of your disability without being condescending. The chance to chat, laugh and cry and the opportunity to meet other people living with cancer to find out what works, what doesn’t, diet, supplements and therapies. For me, it offers a viable alternative to constant and high drug intake. The therapies give me respite from sleeplessness, and offer pain control and reduced stress.’

How is the Sara Lee Trust Funded?

The trust is independent and receives no statutory funding so relies on fundraising activities and donations. It needs to raise £190,000 per year to provide a target of 2,500 treatments per year to patients in palliative care. With the recent credit crisis the charity has been struggling to meet these targets. It has been forced to cut services, reducing opening hours and outpatient visits. It hopes to reinstate these services in the future.

How to Donate to Charity

Erica Smith, a local resident, plans to run the New York Marathon on 1st November to support the Sara Lee Trust. Just Giving is website that lists registered charities and profiles people who are fundraising for them. You can sponsor events online, which makes the giving process a little easier.

Resources

The copyright of the article A Profile of the Sara Lee Trust in Women’s Health is owned by Nicci Talbot. Permission to republish A Profile of the Sara Lee Trust in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.