The Duke of Rothesay visits Ayrshire Hospice

As part of the visit Prince Charles toured the facility visiting the hospice in-patient unit, gym, therapy room, hairdressing and Solas day services lounge. He also participated in the Wednesday art class where he painted a tile whilst chatting to his fellow artists and volunteer art class teacher, George Bell.

Mandy Yule, Chief Executive of the Ayrshire Hospice said: “We were delighted to welcome HRH The Duke of Rothesay to the hospice today. It was a memorable opportunity for patients and families to meet him and I was extremely proud to share the exceptional work of the teams across our organisation. 

“Prince Charles was particularly interested to hear from our patients and family members about their experience of hospice care and commended our employed and voluntary staff for the devotion, love and care paid to all the patients that come to the hospice”.

To mark the visit a plaque was unveiled and a presentation of gifts made. Solas patient Marion Stewart presented a silk scarf for Duchess of Rothesay that she herself had painted in the art class. Retail Manager Jackie Kennedy, presented a wooden box of hand knitted toys and matching alphabet mat for his grandchildren – all handmade by a member of the Knit and Natter group that meets at the Ayrshire Hospice Troon shop.

In return, HRH The Duke of Rothesay presented the hospice with a beautiful chocolate replica of Highgrove to be shared with everyone at the hospice. 

He said: “This small gift comes with enormous admiration for all that you do. Without all of you, the staff and volunteers, it would be so difficult to run this sort of establishment and clearly it has made a huge difference to people all throughout Ayrshire having this wonderful service for the last 27 years. So I do hope it goes on from strength to strength, depending of course entirely on the ingenuity of the fundraising team. It is remarkable what you all manage to achieve”.