Why we are here

Caroline Lower, Chief Executive

I’d like to welcome you to the Martlets Hospice website - I hope you find it informative, and that we give you a glimpse of what life is really like at the Martlets.  

The Hospice plays a vital role in helping people to live life as fully as they can right up until the end. Via expert clinical care we ensure that wherever possible peace, respect and calm remain – it’s very simple and very human ethos. This site will help you see just how necessary the Hospice is, and, I hope help you understand how much you and your family would value our support should you need us in the future.

We care for people across our local community however we are not part of the NHS. We receive 30% of our funding from the NHS, this leaves us with a shortfall to raise every year of over £3 million. As you can see the help and financial support from individuals and community groups is essential for us to continue providing vital hospice care. 

The Martlets is Brighton & Hove’s hospice, and opened in 1997. It replaced two other local charitable nursing homes that cared for people nearing the end of their life – Tarner home and Coppercliff.  Both Tarner and Coppercliff were set up to help people who were suffering from a terminal illness. At the time these two organisations were unique in the fact that as charities they could provide their services at a cost affordable to everyone. Other local nursing homes were often out of the financial reach for many people. Over the years medical conditions became more complex and it was becoming harder and harder to meet patient’s needs from a nursing home. So, in the mid 90’s an ambitious plan was announced to build Brighton & Hove’s first purpose built hospice. The hospice would amalgamate both Tarner and Coppercliff staff and services in one place.  The plan also incorporated a third charity which had been set up to provide a DayHospice service and provided a home base for the Community Palliative care Team.  The new hospice was built and the Martlets as we know it opened in 1997.

The Martlets is your local hospice and we need your support. We ask people to care now so that we are here when they need us most. Enjoy looking through the pages on our site, find out more about the services we provide and about how you could get involved. There many ways to support us from experiencing one of our events, to setting up a monthly standing order, not to mention the huge range of voluntary opportunities within the organisation.

However you decide to get involved with the Martlets it will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks for your support

Caroline

Back