History of the Foundation

The Paul Sartori Foundation, a Pembrokeshire Hospice at Home Service established for those with a life-limiting illness, was founded in memory of its namesake, Father Paul Sartori.

Father Paul Sartori, a Haverfordwest-based Parish Priest, saw a need for hospice care in Pembrokeshire.  Shortly after recognising the need he unfortunately became ill himself and died from cancer at the age of 39, in 1980.  Inspired by Father Paul, a small group of his local parishioners and friends strived to bring his ideas to fruition and so the Paul Sartori Foundation was created in his memory.

In 1982 the Foundation became a registered charity, governed by a board of trustees all of whom are unpaid and volunteers. Shortly afterwards, funding was granted for a nurse, Carmel Gould, who was also one of the Foundation’s founding members. However, the Paul Sartori Foundation was initially formed with a Home Care Services team of 6 carers.

The registered charity has gone from strength to strength, and the Hospice at Home service now provides a range of services to people living in the final stages of any life limiting illness, dispelling the belief that it is a ‘cancer charity’ and operates an open referral system.

“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.

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”.

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.

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.