Cudeca Hospice launched on 25th October 2021 its new campaign "Joan Hunt, one in a million" which aims to raise €1,000,000 to create and manage a Paediatric Palliative Care Unit for 4 years, as well as paying tribute to its founder, who passed away last June.

This unit would include specialised comprehensive care and compassionate accompaniment for children and adolescents, as well as their families including not only parents, but also siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles... the whole family. A team of expert professionals: doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, physiotherapists, music therapists, art and play therapists, teachers, and volunteers, would attend both in the homes and at the Cudeca Centre, in room number 10 or at the Day Centre.

Joan's house, paediatric room number 10. A central part of this project is the refurbishment of the house where Joan lived her last years, built and paid for by herself. Located next to Cudeca's In-Patient Unit in Benalmádena, it will be converted into a space completely adapted to deal with such special situations, familiar and homely, with its own kitchen and a small garden overlooking the sea.

With 3 months of campaigning already underway, the amount raised so far is already over €225,000. Although still far from the target, this amount will allow us to launch a large part of the project in 2022.

The campaign will remain open until 28 February.

How can you help?
On the website www.oneinamillion.es you can make donations on-line. From this website you can also easily create an event to raise funds among family, friends and colleagues.

You can also donate by:

- Bank transfer to "la Caixa" ES11 2100 9032 3722 0010 8366.
- Bizum from Cudeca to 00206 (Select option "Donate to NGO").

All donors who donate more than 250€ can have their name permanently displayed in Joan Hunt's house.

*Donations subject to tax deductions of up to 80% (individuals) and 35% (legal entities).
For donation certificate - Bizum and bank transfer - send email with tax details to socios@cudeca.org.

Cudeca's Paediatric Palliative Care Unit

Why not dream of a comprehensive care project for children? CUDECA Hospice did not exist 30 years ago, and Joan Hunt set up a project that today cares for 1,700 patients and their families every year, completely free of charge, asking for help from the community as a whole: citizens, private companies and public institutions.

This Unit would include comprehensive specialised care and compassionate accompaniment of children and adolescents, as well as their families, including not only parents, but also siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles... the whole family. A team of expert professionals: doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, physiotherapists, music therapists, art and play therapists, teachers... and volunteers, would attend both at home and at the Cudeca Centre, in room Nº.10 or at the Day Care Centre.

The Cudeca Palliative Care Paediatric Home Care Team.

A home team consisting of a doctor, nurse, psychologist and social worker. The provision of specialised care and counselling in the home maximises the whole family's ability to enjoy life, enabling them to function more effectively during their child's illness. The estimated cost of this team is €136,000/year.

The Cudeca Paediatric Palliative Care Day Centre.

Formed by a team of therapists and volunteers. In our experience, the support and active care of children, from physiotherapy, art therapy, music therapy, hydrotherapy, play therapy, make children live better, with more quality of life and functional capacity. The estimated cost of this equipment is €15,000/year.

Cudeca Palliative Care Paediatric Room No. 10, the home of Joan Hunt.

This house was designed, built and paid for by Joan in 2013, on Cudeca's plot of land, and next to our In-Patient Unit. It was born out of Joan's vision that, once he was no longer with us, it would be used to care for patients with more complex situations, especially children and adolescents. The refurbishment of the house has an estimated cost of €90,000. And the care resources are estimated at €70,000/year: nursing, clinical assistant, doctor, psychologist, social worker and physiotherapist.

Joan Hunt, the heart of Cudeca

Joan Hunt, a pioneer of palliative care in Spain and founder of Cudeca Hospice, died on 24th June at the age of 92. She and her husband retired to the Costa del Sol, and a few years later, in 1991, Fred died of cancer in Malaga. The way her husband spent the last days of his life made her consider the idea of building a hospice to offer what she always called a "special kind of caring".  With a very rudimentary knowledge of Spanish and few contacts to fall back on, but with great tenacity and passion, she began to raise funds and made her vision a reality. In 1992 she founded Cudeca, the first hospice palliative care centre in Spain, and it has become a foundation loved and respected by the people of Malaga, caring for, relieving and accompanying more than 1,700 people at the end of life each year.

Cudeca bids farewell to its founder, but Joan's legacy will undoubtedly live on.