Balloon carnival celebrates work of hospice

Lorna Hankey lost her aunt and grandmother in quick succession, but said the care provided by Nightingale House Hospice was faultless

Hot air balloons will fill the skies of Shropshire on Saturday as the ninth year of Oswestry Balloon Carnival opens.

The event, held at Cae Glas Park across the weekend, is in aid of Nightingale House Hospice, which provides specialist palliative care services for those with life-limiting illnesses.

Someone who knows only too well the impact of the hospice is Lorna Hankey, who was part of the team to suggest the balloon festival back in 2016.

The 31-year-old, who works as the safety officer for the event, said she could not fault the hospice after it cared for both her aunt and grandmother who passed in quick succession in 2008.

She said: "The services they provide are supportive for both the patients and the families.

"Whenever someone has to go into a hospice it's never nice, but the team and the actual hospice is so lovely that you don't go in thinking you're going into a hospice, you go in thinking it's someone's house.

"They really take care of family and patients so well."

The Oswestry Balloon Carnival is in its ninth year

Ms Hankey said she was "very close" to her aunt, who died with bone cancer, and her grandmother, who had bowel cancer.

"We lost them within a very short period of time. I think my aunt passed away in [the] August and my nan was the December following," she said.

"I was very young at the time and the nurses at the hospice and Macmillan were great, they were so supportive.

"They would bend over backwards to support families."

Ms Hankey added: "Obviously, you don't want people to pass, but being in the situation we were in, I wouldn't have changed them for the world.

"I couldn't fault them."

Oswestry Balloon Carnival raised £37,000 for Nightingale House Hospice last year

Entry to the event is free, although visitors are encouraged to make a voluntary donation of £2 upon entry to support Nightingale House Hospice.

In 2024, the event raised £37,000, which Ms Hankey said was the target for 2025 as well.

Elise Jackson, Events and Campaigns Manager at Nightingale House Hospice, said the event brought people together and raised "crucial funds".