Hi there. I’m Steve Holt, current Chair of Axminster Hospital League of Friends.

I joined the Trustees of The League in 2013 and took over the role of Hon. Treasurer. At that time, donations and legacies were quite buoyant. Following the loss of the beds in 2015, it became apparent how important the inpatient bed facility was to the perception of the hospital and the people of Axminster. “The closure of the beds spelled the closure of the hospital” in many people’s minds.

The League continued to support the needs of both the hospital and other agencies offering health and wellbeing services after the closure of the beds facility. Over the years since, the League has invested well over £300,000 in equipment for the hospital and many tens of thousands for other charitable and service organisations supporting the people of Axminster.

The League has a strong membership of people who make regular donations by standing order, that enables us to have a regular basis of cash to support various projects and needs. However, legacies have dropped off significantly meaning that any funding is made from our reserves. This has not stopped us reviewing every request and we were able to fund over £65K of X-ray equipment in 2018, giving Axminster one of the most up-to-date facilities in the area. We have also purchased a variety of ophthalmology equipment which has aided the expansion and development of those services at the hospital.

One of the impacts of the loss of hospital beds is the lack of end-of-life care facilities locally. To this end the League joined forces with Seaton’s League and started the Axe Valley Hospiscare at Home service run by Hospiscare (Exeter) with locally based nurses. We used reserves to fund the £200K per annum facility with the expectation that a successful service would be self-funding through legacies and donations in the years to come. This service ended in September 2021. With the number of patients and their complex clinical needs rising, Hospiscare were unable to provide the level of service as was originally designed for the Axe valley Hospiscare@Home package, and needed to concentrate on more specialist cases that meet their criteria.

In 2022 I was elected to Chair of the League following in the very large footsteps of Dr Phil Taylor who had been in role for some 20 years. The League thanks Phil for his tireless work and is pleased that he has remained a Trustee thereby giving valuable continuity.

The hospital remains as a vibrant facility offering a significant range of clinics, minor surgery and out-patients services. The one facility that is still lacking in our area is end-of-life support. The League’s goal is to provide end-of-life care for Axminster, in whatever form suits best, and will be looking at all the options. Whichever way we choose to provide this will have significant cost and as shown above, will require in the region of £200k per year. With donations currently not reaching between 10% and 15% of this need, The League needed to look inwardly at how it could consider a broader base for fundraising. Our start point in 2023 has been to recruit our first ever employee with a clear mandate to raise the profile of The League in the public eye, identify the core needs for Axminster and investigate significantly greater funding streams. I am really happy that we now have an Administration Manager to focus on these elements.

I am proud to be the Chair of such a worthy charity and will continue work with my fellow trustees and staff to ensure that it fulfils its constitutional objectives by providing funds for the health, welfare and comfort to the local community.

I thank you for your continued support to the League in helping us achieve our goals.