Lee Taylor was diagnosed with bulbar onset Motor Neurone Disease (MND), in December 2019. Lee sadly died on 25 May 2023 at the age of 46 years old. He was married to Tracey and had a daughter, Mya-Mai, aged nine years old and a son, Hudson, aged five years old.
When Lee was first diagnosed, with a condition which affects your speech first, he set himself a series of fundraising challenges and campaigned on Twitter to raise awareness of living positively.
His mantra was, “I’m not living with MND, MND is living with me,” which he shared at Arthur Rank Hospice Charity’s Annual Lecture in 2022.
Lee’s wife Tracey said: “Lee was the most amazing husband and father. We are heartbroken but we are comforted by the fact that he was determined to leave us with so many memories and achieve so much to help others.”
Arthur Rank Hospice Charity’s Chief Executive, Sharon Allen, said: “It was a privilege to engage with Lee. His positive attitude to living well for as long as possible will continue to help other people diagnosed with a life-limiting condition.
Mr Woods, owner of St Neots Windows, said: “When I was first diagnosed it was Lee’s positivity that helped me cope with thinking about what the future holds for someone with MND. After a while we supported each other and had a special bond. I miss him terribly, but his legacy will live on forever just as he wanted it to. He was a legend.”
In 2021 Lee first shared his story with Arthur Rank Hospice Charity. In 2022 he kindly agreed to support the Charity's Annual Lecture and shared his journey to support others living with MND. This is Lee’s story.
Arthur Rank Hospice Charity supports people in Cambridgeshire living with an advanced serious illness or other life-limiting condition and those who need end-of-life care. Our ‘Outstanding’ services are provided free of charge to patients and their families. Our aim being to provide the highest quality care, helping people to make every moment count.
Around 3,600 patients each year are cared for at the Hospice in Cambridge, the Alan Hudson Day Treatment Centre in Wisbech and in patients’ own homes via the Arthur Rank Community Team. This care supports people to improve their quality of life and fulfil their
end of their life choices.
Alongside the care provided by the Inpatient Unit, Living Well services and Hospice at Home teams, patients can access: patient and family support (including counselling, bereavement, psychological and spiritual support); Lymphoedema care; physiotherapy, occupational, complementary and creative therapies; medical and pain outpatient clinics; Transitioning Young People Services, Caring Communities and advice from the Clinical Nurse Specialists within the Specialist Palliative Care Home Team or via the Palliative Care Hub (111, option 3).
Practical, holistic and tailored care programmes are available to the individual patient, family member or carer. Depending on need, length of support can vary from a matter of hours to a period of years and may span one or many services.
People are our greatest asset and make Arthur Rank Hospice Charity vibrant, welcoming and engaging. Around 250 colleagues, over 500 active volunteers and thousands of supporters, are known collectively and fondly as ‘Team Arthur’. Volunteers enhance services, fulfilling a variety of valuable roles, from maintaining the beautiful gardens to greeting customers in our shops, looking after our Bistro and to helping with bereavement support groups.
As experts in our field, we are passionate about sharing our specialist knowledge and continuing to raise the standard of palliative and end-of-life care across the region. We run a variety of courses for healthcare professionals and care home staff to share best practice. We also offer placements so that healthcare professionals and students can gain a more thorough understanding of the work we do.
It will cost £12.12 million to run our services in 2023/2024. Contracted services from the NHS are budgeted at £7.33 million. With the help of our community, we need to raise a further £4.79 million through donations, fundraising activities, retail sales, the Education and Conference Centre and Bistro. If we fail to meet this target the difference will, reluctantly, have to be taken from our limited reserves. Sustaining services for people in our community is our focus and therefore we are extremely grateful to everyone who demonstrates their dedication, commitment and generosity and helps protect our reserves for the future.
For further information, please visit arhc.org.uk
We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
