Sponsor a Nurse appeal

None of us know when we might need hospice care, but  your support has helped ensure we can continue to be here at the most difficult time in people’s lives.

Being faced with an illness that cannot be cured is something none of us want to think about, but we do all want to know that there will be someone to help us should we need them.


Since 2013, the Sponsor a Nurse appeal has raised an incredible £248,000 to support the care that Pilgrims Hospices offers.

Working within the hospice environment and meeting patients opens your eyes to what passion, empathy, dignity and respect truly mean. Working at Pilgrims gives us all time to appreciate what we have in our own lives, and puts the preciousness of life into perspective.

Beverley Allen, Community Registered General Nurse, Pilgrims Hospice Ashford

We take the time to listen

Sarah Martins

When a patient is referred to Pilgrims, we take the time to listen to and talk with them to find out what worries them most. We know that every patient is unique and we tailor all our care to what works best for them.

“I consider myself very privileged to support patients and their families at end of life; it underpins all that nursing is for me. We know that we can’t change the destination but we can change the journey.

Time, patience, specialist knowledge and humour keep us connected to our patients. We respect them as individuals and are able to connect on a human level, we give the care we would want and expect our loved ones to receive if they needed it and that is nearly all funded by the amazing general public.”

Sarah Martins, Senior Ward Sister, Pilgrims Hospice Canterbury

Bringing nurses to the bedside

Mandy Timms

Because we believe that everyone has the right to care, comfort, compassion and dignity in their final days, weeks, months or years, we provide all of our care free of charge.

“Pilgrims is a wonderful organisation to work for and I feel very privileged to come to work here every day. My role is so varied, involving community, clinic and home visits, and I never know what each day will bring. It is humbling spending time with patients who open their hearts and allow us to accompany them on their journeys.”

Mandy Timms, Advanced Nurse Practitioner

Giving the gift of care

Pilgrims is here so that patients do not come to their end-of-life journeys in pain or distress.

By sponsoring a nurse, our supporters have helped to ease pain, offer comfort, provide reassurance and help someone live their life to the full in the time that they have.

We support the whole person’s wellbeing to help them really live their last days. We treat people as individuals by offering them choices.

If you would like to continue supporting Pilgrims nurses, you can do so by joining Always Caring, a club of committed supporters who choose to make regular, monthly donations to Pilgrims Hospices.

For more information, click here.


Each year, Pilgrims Hospices give care and comfort to thousands of people in east Kent who are coming to terms with an illness that sadly cannot be cured. The charity support patients to live life as well as possible until the very end, free from pain and distress.