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His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales visited, on Friday, the headquarters of the Hospice Casa Sperantei (Hospice House of Hope) in the Capital, where he talked to the adult patients, but also the children that benefit from the services of the daycare centre, sitting with them at the table where they were decorating Easter eggs.
His Royal Highness was greeted by founder of the organization, Graham Perrols, and the executive director, Mirela Nemteanu. In the discussion with Graham Perrols, Prince Charles showed interest in the social-medical centre that will be opened near the Capital, in Adunatii Copaceni.
Once he reached the unit destined for adults, His Royal Highness shook hands with the staff and wanted to know how many nurses work in that section. Later, he entered two salons, where he discussed with patients, in order to find out more about the conditions they benefit from.
At the third floor of the Hospice Casa Sperantei headquarters, which hosts the paediatrics section, the psychologist and coordinator of the daycare center told His Royal Highness that the beneficiaries have recreative activities scheduled and invited them to join in. The Prince took a chair, next to Maria, a girl who extended her hand towards him. 'If you're Prince Charles, know that I made these for you. [...] They're not what I expected, but they're beautiful, I want to give them to you', said the girl, pointing to five decorated eggs.
HRH offered his thanks, and the girl replied that she knows "only a few words in English" and then rushed to prove it, counting to twelve. She then added the words 'milk' and 'book'. Prince Charles asked her if she also knows to count in Romanian and the girl responded she knows. A boy aged six gave the Prince of Wales an Easter greeting card, for which the Prince of Wales offered his thanks. "By the way, I am eleven", Maria intervened. "Eleven?", HRH asked.
Later, the Prince of Wales participated in a cake cutting ceremony on the occasion of the 25 year anniversary of Hospice Casa Sperantei's activity, thus marking a quarter century since a very small team, assembled on the initiative of an English volunteer, introduced the notion of palliative care to Romania, conducting house visits.
The Prince of Wales cut the first piece of cake, that he offered to one of the girls. HRH also spoke a bit with the mothers of the children from the daycare centre who were sat at a table, decorating Easter eggs. He wished to meet Maria's mother. The Prince conveyed that she liked Maria very much and that she is a very special girl. At the end of his visit, His Royal Highness met with supporters, sponsors and partners of Hospice Casa Sperantei, among them being also former Health Minister, Vlad Voiculescu, as well as film critic Irina Margareta Nistor. The same room hosted an exhibition of images from the social-medical center that will be opened near the Capital, at Adunatii Copaceni, where works are in full force.
Alongside Prince Charles, Ambassador of the UK to Romania Paul Brummell and Mayor of the District 2 Mugur Mihai Toader also visited the Hospice Casa Sperantei (Hospice House of Hope).
'Hospice Casa Sperantei' is a charitable foundation established in 1992 with the purpose of improving the quality of life for persons with incurable diseases and their families. The foundation has as a mission the development of palliative care services, through the formation of some professionals that would be active in Southeast Europe. Moreover, on a national level, the organization draws attention on these subjects through support, promotion, education and fundraising activities.
The first centre with integrated services of palliative care was opened in 2002 in Brasov, and in 2005 the Hospice services extended to Bucharest, through the implementation of mobile teams that would grant home care to the sick. In 2008, such mobile teams were implemented in Fagaras and Zarnesti too. 2014 saw the inauguration of a modern centre for palliative care, and two years later the paediatrics section with integrated care services opened.
Since its establishment in 1992, the organization offered services to more than 20,000 patients. The foundation is an authority in matters palliative care education, with over 11,000 graduates of specialty courses, both in Romania, as well as in neighboring states. The services of the foundation are free and offered unconditionally to patients and their families. The organization has over 200 employees and is also aided by 200 volunteers.
