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Hardly any of us looks forward to old age. But maybe we`re viewing this stage of life from the wrong angle. Veronika Hovorková, Head of Health Care at Sue Ryder nursing home, certainly doesn`t think that a care home is the end of the line for a person. We say that seniors don`t come here to die or merely to live out their days. They come here to live the rest of their lives. And that completely changes the way you see things, says Veronika.

Katka’s grandmother Lidka lived at home until the age of 102. With the support of her family, Sue Ryder’s personal assistance, and other services, she managed well. But in the end, old age brought her into the health-care system — and her final days, as well as the farewell after her death, took place under shocking conditions. Her story calls for profound changes in the way we care for the oldest among us.

Psychologist Lucie Simonová, who works with Sue Ryder, reflects on forming relationships in senior years, emphasising the importance of connection, sharing, and even a warm embrace at the age of eighty. As part of a multidisciplinary team, her mission is to ensure that clients experience the final stage of life with dignity, fulfilment, and purpose. She also considers it her responsibility to challenge stereotypes about ageing, dying, and death.

155 individual donors, 4 birthday celebrants who asked for no gifts, 6 companies, one concert, and little Johanka. All of them joined forces to help fund a new call-bell system and palliative care at the Sue Ryder nursing home. At the Sue Ryder Home, you often hear ringing — though not cathedral bells. It’s more like a soft beep from a bedside button, a signal that a client is calling for a care worker or a nurse.

Jakub Welszar was among the first to arrive at the newly opened home for the elderly in Michelský dvůr. He's quiet and hard to interview. But this boy from Vinohrady has a heart of gold, a will like a bull and has been caring for the most fragile clients for 23 years. At the other end of Sue Ryder's history of caregivers is Henry Kaut. He spent most of his life in the armed forces. Then followed a career reversal and since February he has been caring for the elderly - with vigour, love and sometimes with the help of "Dinotherapy".

On Thursday, June 27, 2024, the fundraiser for a new elevator received its final boost. Matěj Lejsal, who has been the director of Sue Ryder for 19 years, organised an unusual fundraising challenge, saying: "I’m going to do something in Stromovka that I would normally only do if it were a punishment!"

"I once realised that a person, even if they are a specialist - a doctor - has no right to judge another person's standard of living. We cannot say that a person's standard of living is already such that it is not worth treating. We must strive to the end for the best quality of human existence", says Peter Herle, Medical Doctor in Sue Ryder.

Every old person is unique. Everybody in the Czech Republic should have the chance to live their old age and the old age of their loved ones with dignity. That's why Sue Ryder has been here since 1998. We are committed to standing with the oldest among us. Hundreds of human stories. Thousands of hours of help. Look how far we've come together and thanks to you.

So that they are not left alone to worry about old age. To experience something extra - like dancing, even in a wheelchair, visits to therapy animals, trips to places they love. To have the care they need every day to live. And that the kind and dignified approach in elder care continues to spread, according to Sue Ryder. All of this is what you, our donors, contributed to in the Christmas collection.⭐

She senses the sun rays but she has never seen how the sky flares up with the shades of gold. She hears the humming of waves but she cannot admire the magnificence of the sea. Jarka, a client of the Sue Ryder personal assistance, has been blind since her birth. Yet, or perhaps therefore, she is always struggling to experience. Her eyes have names: Ivana, Martina, Hanka ...