For that we want to say thank-you! Your unwavering support, your commitment and loyalty, but mostly your belief in us, is what got us through and is what still keeps us going!

We started the year with a vision that in 2019 we would realize our dream of building our extention to the In-Patient Unit and adding the adolescent section. A parkhome was donated but sadly proved to be structurally unsafe due to rust damage. The project had to be abandoned, despite so many efforts from different donors to try and make it happen. We want to assure them, as we want to assure our community, that our vision remains intact – we will continue to explore possibilities to extend our In-Patient Unit.

In May this year, we then found ourselves at a further crossroad, where due to severe financial constraints, we were faced with the threatening reality of possibly having to close our doors. The main reason – a sudden and very dramatic increase in patients who were not able to make a financial contribtion to the care we provided. Our policy is clear, we will provide our services to everyone, whether there is a financial contribution or not. So we turned to our community and asked for assistance – we launched the One-Day-One-Patient Campaign and experienced an outpour of love and support and genuine concern from this community – so much so that we managed to keep our doors open, giving us enough breathing space to focus on the service and quality of care we are known for.

We could then also focus on the dream of opening a learning centre and again, with the help of our community, community leaders and community organizations we opened our Centre for Palliative Learning. We also successfully launched The Club 2000 fundraising programme and thanks to various other fundraising initiatives, our financial situation has stabilized. We are deeply grateful to our community, our precious volunteers and staff for their support and prayers.

I would be remiss if I did not thank The Steel Magnolias – Stepping Stone Hospice’s Management Team – who without exception took on an ever bigger workload to ensure the continued level of service and sustainability under trying circumstances.

The heart of Stepping Stone Hospice will always be our patients and their families. Thank you to each and every member of the clinical team who continues to hold our patients with the gentle loving care that simply goes beyond comprehension.

To our amazing staff – thank you for trusting your management team when it seemed that our world was collapsing around us.

Doing the work, we do, we realize that TIME is an especially precious commodity. Time is something our patients don’t have. I wish we could give them time but that is out of our hands. We do our very best to to give them quality of life.

On behalf of the management and staff of Stepping Stone Hospice, I would like to thank our amazing volunteers. These kind people help us every day by assisting at every level – spending time with patients, assisting in the shop, events and answering phones. The work these volunteers do for us and, the patients we serve, is invaluable. Their dedication and selfless commitment enables us to fulfill our mission: to enhance the quality of life for our patients and their loved ones touched by a terminal illness. Their acts of compassion both large and small, allow us to provide our patients comfort, that makes a difference at a very critical point in their lives.

Many of us will be filled with profound sadness for our loved ones who will not be with us as we remember the Child that was born in a stable. Honour their memory with a simple act of kindness.

When shopping for Christmas presents please remember us and pop into our Charity Shop for bargain gifts! We are in the Stat Building – 4 Fore Street, Alberton.

What will next year hold for us? I honestly don’t know. But what I know is that Stepping Stone Hospice has the most phenomenal team of staff and volunteers and we ready for whatever 2020 holds with our community at our side. On behalf of me, my family, the Management Team and staff of this beautiful organization – Thank you again. May you all truly experience the rich blessings of Christmas and may 2020 be filled with good health, joy, laughter and time….

With love
Tersia Burger
CEO