WHEN Dawn Pless's husband was diagnosed with a brain tumour her world was thrown into turmoil, but then she was put in touch with St Richard's Hospice and the months leading up to his death became easier to handle.

Martin Pless became ill in November 2005 and in February 2006 he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. His youngest daughter Imogen was only six months old at the time, and his oldest daughter, Camille, was three.

Martin's wife describes the moment her husband of nine years was diagnosed and how St Richard's brought a ray of light into their turmoiled lives.

"When somebody in your family gets a diagnosis it is like the end of the world," she said.

"All you can see is the end, you cannot see there is a lot more living to do between now and then."

When her GP put her in touch with St Richard's for counselling it signalled the start of an 18-month bond with the hospice.

"I thought the more work we did before Martin died the more accepting we would be. Camille started to have counselling at the hospice when she was four.

"The children knew daddy was very poorly and was going to be an angel."

In June 2007 Martin went for a check-up and doctors found his tumour had progressed to grade four, a stage Mrs Pless described as "the writing on the wall."

"Martin was quite poorly so initially he went to St Richard's for a couple of weeks of intensive physiotherapy and a drugs review.

"They were just great, it was a haven for all of us and the care he had was phenomenal."

Before Mr Pless went into the hospice he was treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, a long drive from his home in Shirley Road, Droitwich.

"In hospital visiting is difficult and it is difficult to get the children in," she said. "Birmingham is a long way to take two children who would only tolerate 20 minutes.

"I would drive to the Queen Elizabeth for them to give him a kiss good night and then drive back again.

"And your stress levels in hospital are so high. When I was not with him I was always worried about him.

"I was worried about whether he was drinking. Was he in pain? Had he had a wash? At the hospice that side of things I did not have to worry about at all."

It was the little touches at the hospice 40-year-old Mrs Pless believes made their journey easier. When Mr Pless was at St Richard's he would often sleep badly, waking in the night crying out for his older daughter Camille.

Back in Droitwich, Camille was having trouble sleeping and would often cry out for her daddy. "St Richard's gave them both a teddy so when Camille woke up she could cuddle it and when Martin woke up he could look at his and think of his daughter," she said.

She also said being able to visit at any time made a huge difference. "It made it easier for us to lose him," she said.

Mr Pless died aged 41 on Wednesday, December 19, the night of the hospice's carol service.

"The girls were able to say goodbye and tell him they loved him," she said. "There were seven of his closest friends with him, I sat holding his hand and we sat reminiscing about all his antics when he was younger.

"Nobody pressured us. They made us drinks and made beds up for us so we could stay if we wanted.

"It was so peaceful. I think he got exactly the kind of night he would have wanted, he would have loved that.

"We were so blessed by him being at the hospice, there is nothing I can ever do to repay what they have done for us. If he was not there the girls maybe would have not had a chance to say goodbye.

"Camille, who is now five years old, has said to me, I will never forget being able to say I love you, daddy, and give him a kiss.' And another time she said, It is a place for people who have a lot of living to do in a short space of time.' "The hospice felt like home, it wasn't scary for them.

"It has made them cope better, that they were part of his life and part of his death.

"My memories could have been so different if we had not gone to the hospice. There are no words to express what they gave to us as a family.

"It is a positive, beautiful, serene place, it is going to be a massive part of my heart for the rest of my life.

"They have just got it all so right and they think of everything."

ST RICHARD'S HOSPICE: THE FACTSSt Richard's Hospice was established as an independent charity in Droitwich in 1984, treating and caring for people with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer.

The hospice launched an appeal in 2004 to raise £5.25 million for a new specially equipped hospice building.

In 2006, the new building equipped with 10 beds in Wildwood Drive, Worcester, was opened.

£3.2 million is needed to keep St Richard's hospice open and caring for patients in 2008.

Twenty-four per cent of its funding comes from the Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, the remainder needs to be raised through voluntary donations.

The centre offers counselling and therapy and cares for patients for free, and has more than 110 staff and 700 volunteers supporting 1,700 patients and families each year.

In March, five new palliative care beds will be opened.