We are very proud to announce that we have been awarded the Gold HospiceUK Compassionate Employers award. Not only are we the first Hospice to receive this award, we join Aviva as the only other company to achieve this. This is therefore, a significant milestone for our organisation.

The Compassionate Employers programme is run by the national charity, HospiceUK. After joining the programme in 2022, we have come a long way. Our journey has been one of growth and commitment to enhancing employee well-being, which in turn strengthens our ability to support the community of Hastings and Rother.

Over the past two years, the Hospice has been reviewing multiple policies including:

• Increasing compassionate leave entitlement, which can now be taken at any time in a 56 week period, to spend time with someone who is dying or at the end of life;
• We have introduced the use of inclusive and sensitive language in our policies, to accommodate people with diverse family structures and relationships;
• We have introduced emergency leave, for those with dependents;
• We now have a Carers Forum, which aims to support our employees who are also carers at home. The people that attend the forum said that they “didn’t feel so alone and isolated as they had previously,” and they referred to the Carers Forum and a safety net.

Faith Holloway, the Compassionate Employers Programme Lead at HospiceUK, praised the Hospice for our inclusive and sensitive approach, especially in revising our bereavement policy. She noted that the policy now allows more flexibility in taking leave, even covering situations like pregnancy loss and pet loss.

This is a huge achievement for the Hospice, and something we are incredibly proud of.

If you’re interested in working for us, please visit our current vacancies to see if we have the perfect role for you.