Our History

Hospice 23 is a Charity, founded in
1986 (as St Columba’s Fellowship)
 by Prue Dufour (formerly Clench)
 founder of the Dorothy House 
Foundation. She saw how isolated
 many palliative care professionals
 were. Her aim in setting up the
 organisation was to bring people
 together to explore the real
 challenges of working in palliative 
care. So, with the help of others, she started to put together high quality, relevant conferences about current aspects of the speciality.

In 2006, the fellowship changed its name to hospice23. The inspiration for this came from Psalm 23 in the Bible. This Psalm reflects the organisation’s understanding of what is at the heart of care, and particularly palliative care: the accompaniment of people towards the end of their lives and support for those who journey with them.

Conferences have been held in locations such as Scargill House in North Yorkshire, Hothorpe Hall in Leicestershire, and Lee Abbey in North Devon, where the usual format is speaker-led sessions each morning and evening, and free space in at least one afternoon to allow participants to enjoy the wonderful scenic surroundings in the area, to network, or simply to take some time out to recharge their own batteries.