A HOSPICE is tapping into the power of the cup of tea as it continues to tackle terminal illness.

Sobell House is championing hot drinks and homemade cakes for its new fundraising campaign and playing on the popularity of coffee mornings.

Supporters of the palliative care specialists at the Churchill Hospital are invited to 'Come4T' and enjoy a meal together – be it afternoon tea or a dinner buffet – and collect donations.

Sobell's community engagement officer Dave Soper, who is driving the campaign, said: "The important thing is that this is a really easy way to raise money and have fun. In some cases people might have events planned already and won’t have to do much extra work.

"It doesn't matter whether it’s tea and coffee or caviar and champagne: any sort of get-together with friends or work colleagues that people would like to turn into fundraising. Especially in the run-up to Christmas people are having get-togethers anyway and this is something they can help us with."

The Come4T name plays on Sobell's 40th birthday this year, marking decades of service to some of Oxfordshire's incurable patients and their families.

New volunteer Eileen Wojciechowska, who is hoping to join the hospice's bereavement support service, said: "If you gather any group of people together you will always find common ground. Most of us have experienced bereavement, even if it’s a cat or dog – we know what loss is.

"It's a human factor. People talk about it now; it's not hidden like it was. People's barriers have broken down. From being really fearful, now we can speak the word because there is this huge support system."

Mrs Wojciechowska, who lives in Black Bourton near Carterton, added: "Come4T is an opportunity to come together in a really casual, relaxed atmosphere with no pressure. You get offered a piece of cake and a cup of tea and gradually with questions they get to tell a little bit of their story."

Sobell's head of volunteering Jonathan Punton said: "There are a lot of misconceptions about what a hospice is, and this is a way of getting people to dispel those."

Though fundraisers from Sobell have embraced wacky sponsorship missions including wing walking across a plane and skydiving, Mr Punton said tea and cake was a more accessible task.

He added: "Anybody can do this."

Anyone interested in organising a Come4T event, which can take place anywhere including in the hospice's study area if available, can download information and invitations rom sobellhouse.org/fundraising/come4t.

- The hospice needs £4m to build a £9m dementia-friendly extension

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