Farleigh's 2025 calendar raises vital funds for care
This year we received more than 400 entries in our annual photography competition - a record number!
One of the winners was Karen Mercer, whose image of a mallard duck nestling among the daisies appears for the month of May.
Karen has a special connection to the hospice because her husband, Lauri, was cared for by Farleigh’s Locality Care Team.
She said, “My husband died in March this year. He was absolutely determined to stay at home and that was only possible with the help of Farleigh. They were angels and I can’t speak highly enough of them.
“I was struggling to care for Lauri. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do it but, physically, I just wasn’t able to. He hadn’t been able to get up the stairs for a year and was having difficulty even standing up. He’d been doing well for three years but then started to decline. He didn’t want me to contact Farleigh at first. In his head that meant it was end of life care and he never wanted to know how long he had left. When we first called Farleigh, he was quite depressed and thought it meant he only had a few days left. Once he realised that hospice care doesn’t mean that, his mood completely changed and he perked up.
“Farleigh’s team came in and organised for him to have a special bed and began to look after him. I so clearly remember the day when one of the team said, ‘We can take over now, you can go back to being a wife’. That made a huge difference. It took such a weight off my mind, as I had been feeling like I was letting him down. It was only thanks to Farleigh he didn’t have to go into hospital. They were amazing, such incredible ladies. I don’t know what we would have done without Farleigh’s care.”
Karen started doing photography around ten years ago. She added, “Lauri always encouraged me. Once he became more housebound, he was still able to come out in the car with me while I took photos.
I photographed the mallard at Hanningfield Reservoir, but one of my favourite locations is Abberton Reservoir where you can see spoonbills and kingfishers. Lauri would have chemo for the whole day on a Wednesday so I would take him to the hospital, then drive up to Abberton and spend a few hours doing photography, then drive back to the hospital and pick him up.
“While Lauri was ill, the photography was good for my mental health. I would go out and lose myself for an hour. You are so focussed on getting the right shot it takes your mind off anything else. Lauri was my greatest supporter. He always encouraged me and my photography has helped me so much since I lost him.”
All the money raised from the sale of the calendars will help Farleigh Hospice continue to give care and support to people like Lauri and Karen.
The 2025 calendar is available to purchase from Farleigh Hospice stores across mid Essex or via the order form here
