31st December 2013
New Year Honour for Founder of Hospices of Hope, Romania
This New Year, HM The Queen has recognised the achievements of one of the most remarkable Great Britons in Romania. Graham Perolls is made a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the New Year’s Honours List, an order of chivalry reserved for those who render extraordinary service in a foreign country. Graham has been doing just that in Romania for the last 22 years.
When Graham came to Romania in 1992 he brought with him the hospice movement. This was founded in the UK in the 1950s around the simple and powerful idea that people have the right to end their days in comfort and in dignity. In Brasov, Graham found doctors and nurses willing to take up this cause and together they founded ‘Casa Sperantei’ – the Hospice of Hope – to provide palliative care to terminally ill children and adults in the city.
From Brasov, the hospice movement has spread to cities across Romania and elsewhere in eastern Europe. Casa Sperantei has become a training centre for over 12,000 hospice staff from Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Moldova and as far as Kyrgyzstan. It has partnered with the Ministry of Health to develop a national programme for palliative care in Romania. And in recent years Graham has been working on his most ambitious project yet – a new Hospice for Bucharest.
Thanks to the incredible fund raising efforts of the Hospice team, and the generosity of thousands of sponsors – corporate and individual – in Romania, the UK and the USA, Graham’s vision has gradually taken shape, and now the building is finished. I visited it one evening before Christmas, just as the builders were handing it over to Casa Sperantei .
The hospice is an oasis of peace in the heart of a busy city, located beside a lake and within earshot of the bells of the Plumbuita Monastery. Its rooms are fitted with the latest hospital beds, fully accessible for those in wheelchairs, and complete with a chapel, a sitting room and terrace for patients, and a playroom for children.
The campaign continues to raise the remaining funds for running costs so that it can open its doors to its first patients in the New Year. Then Bucharest will have its own, fully equipped modern hospice, and the hospice movement will be firmly rooted in Romania’s capital city.
My congratulations to Graham Perolls and the whole team at Casa Sperantei on receiving this distinction from Her Majesty The Queen, and my thanks to them for bringing hope to many in Romania this New Year.
My dear Graham &Carolyn, I came across the story of your incredible achievement in Romania. I do recall our early conversations about your hopes & dreams of developing Hospice Care & the early stages of your dream being realized. I am truly proud of you and your remarkable achievement. As for me, far too long a tale, but I am the proud grandmother of 7 grandchildren & 4 great-grandchildren.
Warmest wishes from your “old” Israeli friend. Lynn
Graham I hold you in the highest esteem. You have been an inspiration to me and so many with the works you have done. You deserve this honour.
May God so reward you and Carolyn for all you have done in the name of Jesus.
You took the challenge and did it.Well done Graham.So much suffering and poverty in Romania…One never truly know how it feels , until it happens to them.
¨¨It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive¨¨
WINSTON CHURCHILL
¨´No joy can equal the joy of serving others¨¨
SAI BABA
I am in the process of creating my own non profitable charity association to help the unfortunate children of Bucharest.
Hope we can meet one day and share experiences.
All the best,
Prem Roopchandani,
President,
Mayfair Investments
Bravo! Brilliant efforts.
congratulations to graham from lynn and the team at maidstone shop
well deserved
I attended an educational course at Brasov Casa Sperantei in 2011.
I admired the way the hospice staff treated their patients with. I guess there are devoted professionals in Bucharest as were in Brasov – Daniela Mosoiu, Marianna Sporis, etc. whom I always remember with great reverence.
I hope there will be a similar project implemented in Armenia in coming years.
Congratulations!
Is good to hear about such examples in an otherwise bad year of British -Romanian relations.