Eden Valley Hospice

Eden Valley Hospice.

 It was in 1986 that Tom Crellin who, that year, was president of Carlisle Rotary, first broached the idea of a hospice to the then convener of the Community Service Committee, Peter Whitley.

   A   steering   committee   under   the chairmanship of Peter Whitley, and including Rotary president, Tom Crellin, was set up and their enquiries confirmed the existence of an urgent need for a hospice in the area.

 The group visited hospices already in existence before having a basic plan prepared and launching the hospice appeal on April 1st 1987, which proved far from a "Fool's day".

 Wanting to start the appeal with a flourish, they asked newsreader Martyn Lewis, who was known to hove a particular interest in hospices, to be the host and guest speaker at the launch, held at the Hilltop Hotel. Martyn didn't think he could make it because he had to read the evening news and be back in the BBC studios next morning.    Nothing daunted, Peter - who was factory director of United Biscuits at the time - laid on the company plane which whisked Martyn up to Carlisle and back again to London by midnight.  The launch, not surprisingly, was an outstanding success with