A Marie Curie clinical nurse manager has made a Calendar Girls style calendar with a group of free spirited wild swimmers – to raise money for the charity which provides a ‘hospice at home service’ to people for who wish to die in their own homes. Here, Anita describes the ‘amazing journey’
Marie Curie Nurse Anita manages the hospice at home service in East Norfolk and Suffolk where the nurses look after people at the end of their lives so they can die at home. She also a keen wild swimmer and photographer in her personal time, and has made a Calendar Girls style calendar with a group of life loving wild swimmers from Norfolk to raise money for Marie Curie, the leading charity for people living with a terminal illness.
Anita took up wild swimming to help her de-stress from a former role as a care home manager during the pandemic. After she changed jobs and became a Marie Curie Nurse the group decided to make the calendar as a bit of fun, but it has since turned into a fundraiser.
Some of the photos feature Bertie & Betty Boutique Beach Huts run by Michaela, whose mum Jennifer had the support of a Marie Curie nurse in 2023 in the Great Yarmouth area following a brain injury which left her wheelchair bound. Michaela herself has also had breast cancer too in 2012, so she was keen to support the calendar by providing the beach huts as a backdrop to some photos after the nurses and health care assistants had done so much to care for her mum. Michaela described the Marie Curie nursing team as ‘Angels coming in to take the pressure off me’.
Anita said about the calendar: ‘It has been such an amazing journey full of fun, laughter, and learning. Learning to accept who we are, embrace our differences and most importantly love ourselves and our bodies no matter their shape or size’.
The Charity Calendar is priced at £12.99 and can be ordered from Anita’s own website: whitewavepoemsandprints.co.uk. Marie Curie provides a hospice at home service in East Norfolk and Suffolk locally and a Marie Curie Nurse can be contacted via our Information & Support Service over the phone. If you are facing end of life or are bereaved and need someone to speak to please call the Information and Support Service to see how they can help by calling: 0800 090 2309 or visit the Marie Curie website: mariecurie.org.uk
Featured image – Anita is pictured on the right. All images supplied
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