Hospice marks 50 years of service with time capsule

A hospice has buried 20 items in a time capsule to mark its 50th anniversary.

Sobell House, based at the Churchill Hospital in Headington, Oxford, was founded in 1976 by Sir Michael Sobell and the National Society for Cancer Relief.

To celebrate the milestone, the hospice sealed 20 objects reflecting its history across the decades inside a 40cm (16in) cylindrical time capsule, which was buried in the garden of its inpatient unit on Thursday.

Amelia Foster, chief executive of the charity, said the founding idea of providing a "tender loving care environment" was "something that we've really strived to retain even to this day"

Sobell House was one of the UK's earliest modern hospices and is among a small number that fund the NHS to deliver services in its inpatient unit and across the community.

Amelia said the hospice was now "very well established".

"When we were researching the history of Sobell House, we found letters from clinicians who were setting up the idea of the hospice and someone wrote about the tender loving care environment," she said.

"That's something that we've really strived to retain even to this day, so we look after the whole person."

Some "royal highlights" have also been included in the capsule, such as its opening by the Duchess of Kent on 25 May 1976 and a visit by Princess Diana in 1985.

Amelia said the capsule also contained blueprints from various building projects, along with a range of items reflecting the hospice's anniversary.

She added that it included the charity's current newsletter and a USB stick shaped like a blackbird, containing songs written and recorded by patients.

The time capsule has been buried alongside a commemorative plaque and will be opened in 50 years, in 2076.

Gaie Scouller, granddaughter of the charity's founder, said she was "immensely proud" of his legacy.

"Fifty years ago, palliative care didn't exist and it's one of the few areas of medicine which started in England through Cicely Saunders and he obviously cared passionately about it all," she said.

"Whenever I meet somebody or whose family have been associated with this place, I only hear wonderful, wonderful stories.

"Hopefully, more and more people will be able to benefit from this wonderful place."

Foster said there would be more ways to mark the 50th anniversary, including a celebration at the Westgate shopping centre in Oxford on 13 June.