A NEW short film has been created to highlight the work of two hospices in Cornwall.

The powerful four-minute film, “Cornwall, you make this happen every day”, has been made for the Cornwall Hospice Care charity which runs Mount Edgcumbe Hospice in St Austell and St Julia’s Hospice in Hayle.

The film includes actors from the county as well as members of the charity’s own staff and follows the story of a young family experiencing hospice care.

The family is shown enjoying themselves on a beach in Cornwall at the start of the film.

However, the happy times are soon replaced by sobering scenes in a medical setting where the mother is given devastating health news.

The film then follows some of the hospice care and support provided to all of the family in the last days and weeks of the mother’s life.

Cornwall Hospice Care chief executive Paul Brinsley said: “We wanted to show a patient’s journey at the end of their life to help explain the precious nature of hospice care and to show the community of Cornwall how important their support is to our charity.

“There’s no hiding that the film is a difficult and emotional watch, but it’s what we do 24 hours a day, seven days a week at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice and at St Julia’s.

“We’re proud of the care we provide and of our ability to make every day matter for our patients and those who are close to them. We need to open up what hospice care looks like to stop the myths and to show the people of Cornwall who almost entirely fund what we do, how it works and why our charity is important to our community.

“We’ll celebrate the 45th anniversary of hospice care in Cornwall from October this year and it’s entirely appropriate that we share the very special support we provide to those who we hope will continue to help bring in the funds for the next 45 years and beyond.”

The film has been produced in association with Sam Oatey from Oatey Media in Truro and Ben Battell of Salt & Gorse in Newquay.

Sam said: “Our brief was to portray the emotional subject of adult hospice care whilst reflecting on the very special support that’s shown to Cornwall Hospice Care’s patients, carers, families and friends. It’s a very moving subject, but it hopefully dismisses a lot of myths about what goes on in a hospice.”

Ben said: “In bringing this story to life, our aim was to capture the compassion, resilience, sadness and even moments of joy that occur every day in a hospice. It was important to us to craft a narrative that honoured both patients and caregivers, shedding light on the profound impact of end-of-life care.”

The actors include Laura Frances Martin (mother), Kevin Dodds (father), Sally and Jack Bristow (grandparents), and Kerra Brownlee and Dorothy Shapland (daughters).

Staff taking part include nurses Claire Clark, Naomi Pascoe and Hayley Shields, healthcare assistants Emma Eden and Hannah Cahart and clinical administrator Lorella Jacinto.