Father Paul Sartori
Across Pembrokeshire
The name Paul Sartori has become synonymous with Hospice at Home care
It can be seen on our shops, our vehicles, and throughout the work we do in communities across the county.
But behind that familiar name was a remarkable man whose compassion and determination inspired something that would continue long beyond his own lifetime.
Father Paul Sartori was a Catholic priest based in Haverfordwest who recognised a need for hospice care for people in Pembrokeshire approaching the end of their lives. He saw that patients and their families needed greater support at an incredibly difficult time and believed that something more could be done locally to provide compassionate, dignified care.
A vision he never saw fulfilled
Tragically, shortly after recognising the need for hospice care in Pembrokeshire, Father Paul became seriously ill himself. He died from cancer in 1980 at just 39 years old, before he could see his ideas developed. But the people who knew him had heard his vision and shared his determination to improve hospice care in Pembrokeshire. His friends and parishioners took up that challenge, ensuring that his ideas did not disappear with him.
In 1982, the Paul Sartori Foundation became a registered charity. From those beginnings, the service developed into the Hospice at Home organisation that carries his name today. More than four decades later, Father Paul’s compassion and belief in better care for people approaching the end of their lives remain at the heart of his extraordinary legacy.
His name and His Legacy
Father Paul Sartori could not have known how far his idea would travel. He could not have imagined the thousands of people who would come to know his name, the families who would be supported in their own homes, the nurses and carers who would continue his work, or the extraordinary community that would grow around the charity created in his memory.
But the principle that inspired him remains beautifully simple: people approaching the end of their lives deserve compassion, dignity, and choice. That is Father Paul Sartori’s legacy, and it continues every day.
A fantastic man and friend. Many good memories – too many to mention. He would be so pleased with the work of The Paul Sartori Foundation – his dream come true!
Voices from the Community:
Father Paul Sartori’s journey from Priest to Hospice Care.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded the Foundation funds to allow the charity to commission the Voices from the Community: Father Paul Sartori’s Journey from Priest to Hospice Care, Oral History Project.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded the Foundation funds to allow the charity to commission the Voices from the Community:
Father Paul Sartori’s Journey from Priest to Hospice Care, Oral History Project.
Officially launched in July 2022, the project aimed to highlight the connection between Father Paul Sartori, a local Catholic priest, and the impact he had on individuals, the community, and the forming of the charity in his name. The inspiration for the project came from a conversation with previous trustees and stalwart supporters of the charity, Mike and Chris Evans. The Grant Development Officer, Judith Williams, identified the need, researched its potential, and eventually submitted the application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which took 19 months to complete. Each interviewee spoke to project coordinators Dr Simon Hancock and Kiara Quimby for 45 minutes, documenting unique and varied stories about an incredible man.
Simon said the project had exceeded all expectations. “To date we’ve identified and interviewed 67 people who knew Father Sartori either as a family member, as a school friend, a parishioner, or somebody involved with one of the organisations in Haverfordwest – or in the field of social care in which Father Sartori was a compassionate and energetic activist“
The National Lottery Heritage Project
Led by Simon and Kiara, the work of the project was carried out largely by 16 gallant volunteers, including a small cohort of students at Pembrokeshire College. The project was largely bilingual, and saw the team carrying out interviews, writing transcriptions, proofreading, and carrying out Welsh translations.
This project would not have been possible without the generous grant funding provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. A special thanks goes to Berian Elias of The People’s Collection Wales for providing invaluable training to the team to capture and help record these precious memories of Father Sartori for future generations.
Preserving Father Sartori’s Story
This project would not have been possible without the generous grant funding provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. A special thanks goes to Berian Elias of The People’s Collection Wales for providing invaluable training to the team to capture and help record these precious memories of Father Sartori for future generations.
A permanent and accessible Father Paul Sartori Collection will be available from Pembrokeshire Archives and Local Studies Centre, Haverfordwest. To explore the physical items in the collection, contact Pembrokeshire Archives.
The story of Father Sartori and his special connection with the charity is on display at Paul Sartori House, Winch Lane from the end of January 2024. To access the project interviews online, please visit the People’s Collection of Wales’ archive on the project.
