THE Penarth Times is supporting Marie Curie's Pay for a Day campaign this Christmas to help pay for the care of people with a terminal illness at the Bridgeman Road on Christmas Day.

Each week we will be looking at life at the hospice and the amazing work done by Marie Curie nurses. 

Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/penarthtimes%20payforxmasday to donate or call 029 2042 6072 and say you would like to donate to the Pay for Christmas Day campaign.

This week patients at Penarth’s Marie Curie Hospice have started being treated to a gift from ward advent calendars.

The festive treat sees one patient a day given receive a gift and first began last year at the Bridgeman Road hospice, which provides round-the-clock expert care and support to those living with terminal illness and their families.

As part of the charity’s Pay for Christmas Day campaign to encourage people to help pay for a day’s care at the hospice, the Penarth Times is exploring some of the stories behind those who work and are cared for there.

Following the donation of one advent calendar from Josie Llewellyn in 2016, whose grandmother died at the hospice three years ago, nurse Lauren James said she and her mum would create a second advent calendar, to donate, so that both the ground floor and first floor wards could have one.

The material advent calendars have now come out of storage for 2017 and have pride of place once again on both the ground floor and first floor wards and the hospice.

Small gifts have been placed in pockets and staff will then give a gift to a patient each day leading up to Christmas via a raffle ticket system.

The team say it’s a way to bring the spirit of the festive season into the hospice, and help make the stay for the patients as cheerful as they can.

Prizes handed out in the first day included hand cream and goodies from The White Company.