Charity to give hospice new 'cuddle beds'

Two charities in Guernsey are working together to provide new "cuddle beds" to a hospice.

Guernsey Motor Neurone (GMN) is helping Les Bourgs Hospice buy three of the special clinical beds that can extend to double the width, allowing loved ones to snuggle up.

Hospice chief executive Rob Jones said the new beds were due to arrive in May and would give "a new level of care and support for motor neurone disease patients and their families".

The beds cost £17,000 each and the charity said it would pay for two of them, while money collected by fundraiser Jean Owen will pay for the third bed.

Susie Hunt, from the charity, said: "The physical effects of motor neurone disease can be devastating as the body shuts down leaving the brain untouched.

"But cuddle beds are a great way of maintaining the physical presence of loved ones and we should never underestimate the power of physical touch."

Ms Owen said: "Sometimes being close to your loved one at the most tender of times is the only thing you can offer and I hope that this will give some comfort to both the patients and their families."

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