Sir Trevor Brooking and his wife Hilkka have become patrons of Saint Francis Hospice.
Pam Court, CEO of Saint Francis Hospice, announced the news today. Whilst Sir Trevor and Hilkka are longstanding supporters of the hospice – attending golf days and the annual ladies lunch this past year – they have now dedicated even more time, officially opening the hospice day services Pemberton Place following a relaunch.
Sir Trevor also agreed to start off the runners at the annual Santathon fundraising event in Dagenham in December, but heavy snow led to the event being postponed until March 25th. Sir Trevor has agreed to honour his commitment and will start off the 500 Santas signed up to attend.
When asked why they had chosen to become patrons, Sir Trevor said, “the hospice is fundamental to everyone who lives in the area and with people living longer I am very conscious of the challenge and the need for Saint Francis Hospice Services.”
Hilkka continued, “a lady who worked for us a few years ago came here. She was extremely well taken care of and that was the first time I visited here and I must be honest I was in awe of what I found and how well she was cared for. The place wasn’t as daunting as I thought and that’s where my interest started.”
Pam Court said “I am thrilled they have decided to become Patrons. Sir Trevor and Hilkka are such genuine, lovely people they have such an affinity with the hospice and they have a genuine interest and they have already committed time which to us is priceless. A huge thank you to both of them for getting involved.
“When Sir Trevor and Hilkka come to the hospice, staff, volunteers and patients are always excited to see them. Sir Trevor is so obliging coming in a number of times to sign memorabilia as he had so many requests.”
When asked if he was surprised by the amount of attention and interest he receives he said, “I am very lucky because even though I finished playing football a long time ago I’ve had various roles that have kept me in the public eye and we’ve always lived in this area. It seems 80/90% of the people are West Ham Fans.”
Hilkka says she is not really surprised because West Ham fans are really very loyal. “I have always said in our marriage the third person is West Ham United and at least I can say I love her.”