AS a curate, the Rev Susan Wiggins has helped numerous people in their hour of need.

But when her husband, Alan, became terminally ill, it was St Helena Hospice which stepped in to support them both.

Alan had lived with prostate cancer for over a decade but in early 2015, he was diagnosed with bone cancer and given just six months to live.

Alan died in the hospice’s inpatient unit in Myland Hall in Colchester last July.

She said: “We always knew it would end like this but the hospice helped me at that time with their frankness.

"There was always someone there I could talk to. They didn’t just look after Alan and I, but other family members, too.

“Healing doesn’t necessarily come from the physical healing of the body but sometimes the spiritual healing when someone accepts they are going to die in the most dignified way possible.”

To help her cope, Susan signed up for the hospice’s six-week long Having a Tough Time course, otherwise known as HATT, to help her deal with her bereavement.

“I got a lot out of it,” she said. “It is very good to share your own journey and to listen to other people’s experiences and lots of positive things come out of that.”

She said Alan was a very independent man, a thinker who was in control of his life but he was suddenly stripped of his dignity, mobility and independence and became dependent on other people.

Susan said: "Hospice staff cared and respected him as a man and a human being and saw beyond the cancer.

"I want to say thank you to all the staff as well as those who leave legacies or provide financial support in other ways."

As a thank you for that support Susan, who is curate at St Bartholomew’s Church in Holland-on-Sea, is urging people to get behind the hospice and leave a gift in their will to help the hospice continue its work.

“None of us like to think about dying or making a will,” she said, “but I’d urge anyone who is thinking of donating to charity after providing for family and friends to consider the hospice.

"We always pray we’ll never need their support but they are a Godsend when you do.”

Hospice registered nurse Gemma Millington said: “I never get tired of hearing ‘Thank you’ for the care we provide to our patients and the support we give their loved ones day or night, at home or at our hospice sites.”

SERVICES run by St Helena Hospice cost £8.7million a year.

Its chief executive officer Mark Jarman-Howe said: “The care for around one in five people we support is made possible thanks to contributions from people’s wills.

“It doesn’t matter how big or small the gift is. It all makes a difference towards the work of the hospice and the support we give to thousands of people.”

A legacy of £115 could pay for a registered nurse on the hospice’s inpatient unit for one day, giving patients support with physical symptoms like nausea so that they can go home as soon as possible with the support of the hospice’s community teams.

A legacy of £250 could pay for a triage nurse for two days, assessing the needs of newly-referred patients, making sure they can access the services which will benefit them the most.

St Helena Hospice is also holding its annual wills month in June when eight local firms of solicitors will be providing their will-writing services for free in exchange for a donation to the hospice. To book an appointment, call the hospice on 01206 931468 or email giftsinwills@sthelenahospice.org.uk.