The Rev David Knight, chaplain at Worcester's St Richard's Hospice talks about his work IF we can't put days on to lives, we can put life into days. Chaplain of St Richard's Hospice, David Knight, has learnt that this is the key to hospice care.

"We try to make sure that people make the most of every single moment. What strikes me is how impressive an animal we are, how extraordinary and how original, how brave and how imaginative.

"The hospice is not about death but about life. It is always a good experience to meet men and women when they are at their most remarkable.

"Knowing that there is a time limit before you, can lead to a time of intense, accelerated living."

Listening to people's philosophies, their sorrows and regrets, treasured memories of life-changing experiences, their fears, their thoughts of the hereafter, most of all their laughter, he finds is the most amazing privilege.

It is a privilege he shares with the other nine volunteer chaplains in his team. It is not surprising then that David, aged 48, of Stratford-upon-Avon, believes there is more life in the Worcester hospice than anywhere he has ever worked.

David's experiences, while deepening his own faith, have also made him more aware of what human beings have in common, rather than their religious and philosophical divisions.

He said: "The spiritual sense is part of the raw stuff of being human and there is so much common ground right there. The hospice is committed to working in this common ground, this common space."

For this reason, although most of the patients are at least nominally Christian, the hospice chapel is called "the sacred space" so that people of all faiths and philosophies can feel positively included. On the shelves the Bible stands beside the Torah and the Koran and the Hindu and Buddhist holy books.

The designers of the stained glass window at the centre of the space have deliberately avoided Christian imagery such as the crucifixion.

Instead, the window depicts the "tree of life" and the snowdrops, the symbol of St Richard of Droitwich (after whom the hospice is named), hint at the promise of the resurrection; the wheat and vine leaves are displayed as subtle reminders of the Holy Communion.

David, the first paid chaplain in the hospice's 24-year history, said: "It has not been challenging to my faith - which may come as a surprise. What challenges me is when I hear that people have died without peace and I know we could have looked after them so much better here.

"So many resources go into care at the beginning of life. The end of life deserves nothing less. There is no good reason why people cannot die peacefully. Most of the demand for euthanasia is driven by the fear of pain. That can be addressed. You can be dying and still have lots of living to do."

One of the greatest challenges David and other members of the hospice team face is coping with people's anger. This immediate response to bad news can be intense but is often necessary and cathartic.

He said: "Dealing with anger is the most difficult thing. It's natural. We don't enjoy being on the receiving end but sometimes it has to come out that way. We know it will be helpful to that person."

David remembers one of the most powerful moments in his time as a hospice chaplain very clearly. He was working at another hospice in the Midlands when he met a man in his 40s who was very angry and bitter that his life was being cut short by cancer.

David said: "He felt he had been snatched out of the middle of life but, completely out of the blue he asked to be Christened.

"The anger started to recede after a while - it seemed to be drawn out of him like poison out of a wound."

David, a former Church of England vicar and rural dean, never preaches to people or forces his own Christian faith upon them and is swift to point out that St Richard's is a hospice, not a church.

FACT FILE

St Richard's Hospice cares for patients and families in Worcestershire who are living with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

Each year, the hospice provides cares and support to around 1,800 patients and families.

St Richard's Hospice was established in 1984 and is a local independent, Worcestershire charity.

St Richard's hospice is one of almost 200 hospices in the country caring for people with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

The hospice was founded in May 1984 in Droitwich and took its name from Richard de la Wyche who was born there in 1197 and who was declared a Saint in January 1262.

The hospice moved into the new building in Wildwood Drive, Worcester, following a fund-raising drive for the new £5.25m hospice.