Rowcroft celebrates milestone of more than 100 end-of-life care ambassadors

The programme, which was launched in 2018 and is delivered in partnership with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, provides nine months of training designed to give professionals the knowledge, skills and confidence to improve end-of-life care within their own organisations.

Participants develop projects tailored to their individual workplaces, putting their learning into practice to benefit patients, families and carers. They then take their experience and ideas back to their organisations, helping to share good practice across the wider health and social care community.

Joseph Clark-Skinner, Office Manager at Teign Angels, completed the programme in 2025. He said: “The Ambassadors Programme is phenomenal, and I’m so glad that I did it. It’s given me a lot of confidence and reassurance, and the sessions themselves provided spaces where I was able to discuss different things with professionals I likely would never have met otherwise.

“Most of the time, we’re all looking at the same issues and problems, just from different angles, so being able to talk things through with the brilliant attendees and wonderful facilitators was really useful. It’s also helped to really bolster my confidence with Advance Care Planning, and Teign Angels is rolling out an Advance Care Planning Conversation Guarantee to everyone we support.

“We’re also continuing to promote the role that Advance Care Planning can play and the importance for health and social care professionals to feel confident enough to talk about it with people they’re supporting. We’re running sessions to talk to health and social care students in schools and colleges locally, we’ve embedded it into our work placement programme, and we’re planning a social media campaign in a couple of months all about it. The confidence and knowledge I’ve gained from the Ambassador Programme has been instrumental in all of this, and I’m very proud to be an ambassador!”

An ambassador from the 2026 cohort, who wished to remain anonymous, described how the training had changed their approach both professionally and personally.

They said: “The training has pushed me off the edge and I find myself flying and exploring! I speak with more calmness, detail and clarity about death and dying. I integrate it into my spaces of training and reflection. I can find appropriate words quicker and feel more peaceful to not know what to say and to embrace the silence.

“I am open to exploring the rhythm of death and dying in myself and others with greater openness. I have taken active steps to integrate speaking about endings and death in common day-to-day interventions and connections - both professional and private. I am more aware of death as a part of life and the light it brings for human growth.”

Kerry Macnish, Head of Education at Rowcroft Hospice, said: “It has been inspiring to see the commitment and creativity shown by our ambassadors over the eight years that the programme has been running. Each ambassador brings their own experience and ideas to improve care, and together they are helping to create meaningful change for patients, families and carers across South Devon. We are so proud of this programme, as it enables outstanding care beyond our organisation to all those joining us from across our community.”

The initiative forms part of Rowcroft’s commitment to sharing its knowledge and expertise beyond the hospice itself, helping health and social care professionals throughout South Devon provide the best possible care and support when it is needed most.

For more information about Rowcroft’s Education Team and its work, visit rowcrofthospice.org.uk/how-we-can-help/education/