Since the company was founded in 1978, its people have helped to build hospices, raise funds for them and maintain relationships long after the construction work has ended. For many at Barnes, the connection is personal too, shaped by their own experiences of hospice care.

It is a relationship that has always gone beyond bricks and mortar and one that continues today through Barnes’ support for ellenor.

“We really enjoy these projects, especially when you see the joy hospices bring to so many people,” says Joint Divisional Managing Director Mark Hart.

“Hospices mean a lot to us, and we have always been a big supporter. They leave us with an enormous amount of satisfaction, and I am always humbled by the work they do. We always buy into the whole process and make sure we support every aspect including fundraising.

“It is something that has remained important to Barnes for many years because of the vital role they play in our communities. Many of our own colleagues, friends and families have experienced the care and support that hospices provide, often at the times when it is needed most. We look to build long-term relationships with organisations that share our values of care, integrity and community responsibility, which is why our involvement extends beyond the construction process itself. We are proud to continue supporting hospices and the incredible work they do for patients and their families.”

That long-standing commitment to hospice care continued when Barnes began working with ellenor in Gravesend in 2023.

Over the next two years, Barnes built ellenor’s new Wellbeing Centre – a larger, welcoming space for patients and families to receive care and support.

The project became another chapter in Barnes’ decades-long relationship with hospice care, one shaped not only by the buildings it has created, but by its continued support for the people and communities around them.

For many at Barnes, the connection with hospice care is personal too.

Joint Divisional Managing Director Mark Hart knows first-hand the difference that hospice care can make to a family.

“For a long while my father was terrified of going into his local hospice, but he went in as a day patient and really enjoyed it. We still have some of the artwork he did there, which are wonderful memories for us,” says Mark.

“He had his last 48 hours at the hospice, and the care was excellent and he was comfortable.”

Mark is not alone in having a personal connection to hospice care. Others across Barnes have their own experiences too.

And when the Wellbeing Centre was finished in 2024, Barnes’ involvement with ellenor did not end.

“We are not just a constructor that goes in, carries out the work and leaves again,” says Mark. “We have a synergy with ellenor.”

That commitment to staying involved led Barnes to support ellenor in a very different way.

When the company was approached about supporting Dartford We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, ellenor’s free public art trail, it agreed to sponsor one of the 30 big Bear sculptures appearing across Dartford and Bluewater this summer.

“The art trail is a great opportunity for us to play our part,” says Mark.

The trail takes its creative inspiration from Lupus Films’ animated television adaptation of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, based on the much-loved picture book by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.

Barnes chose to support the Memory Bear, created by Dartford-born illustrator Becky Shepperson and on display at Bluewater.

Families and supporters can add the name of someone they love to the Memory Bear in return for a donation to ellenor, creating a lasting and very personal tribute.

For a team in which many people have their own connections to hospice care and bereavement, what the Memory Bear represents has particular meaning.

Mark’s family, for example, still treasures the artwork his father created while attending hospice. Other people within Barnes carry their own memories and experiences.

Now, collectively, the company is helping other families celebrate and remember the people they love.

“We know that it doesn’t stop for families when someone dies and the Memory Bear will help those people,” says Mark.

“I’d like them to see that we are an organisation that’s long term and cares about its clients and their community and the social value of what we have created.”

At the end of the trail, the Memory Bear will have a permanent home at ellenor in Gravesend – a lasting reminder not only of the people whose names it carries, but of a relationship that has continued beyond the original building project.

“It’s a logical place for the bear to be and it cements our ongoing relationship with ellenor,” says Mark.

Building and refurbishing within a working hospice required the Barnes team to work closely with ellenor while care continued around them.

“Obviously, the relationship we have with clients during live building programmes is more intense, but we like to maintain that link,” says Mark.

Members of the Barnes team have returned to ellenor since the building work was completed, seeing the spaces they helped create being used by patients and families.

“The atmosphere is always positive there and it was lovely to walk into the beautiful garden,” says Mark. “It’s good to know the new Wellbeing Centre is operational and being productive.”

For Barnes, experiences like these have reinforced something its people have understood through many years of working with and supporting hospices: they are about far more than dying.

They are places of care, comfort and support, helping people and their families through some of the most difficult periods of their lives.

“It’s great to have the opportunity to become informed about hospices; it’s fantastic to have that knowledge,” says Mark.

“The biggest advert I can give hospices is that I would be comfortable being in one in my last days, or for one of my loved ones to be there.

“That’s all you want for yourself or your loved ones, to be comfortable and content in your darkest moments and receive that premium level of care.

“Hospices are not just about the dying process. Hospices offer so much more than that and they are beautiful places.”

Nearly five decades after Barnes first developed its connection with hospice care, that support continues through its people, its projects and the communities it works alongside.

The Memory Bear is the latest chapter in that story bringing together Barnes’ long-standing support for hospices, its relationship with ellenor and the personal understanding of hospice care shared by people across the business.

Building a hospice creates the space where care happens. For Barnes, supporting the people and families within it goes far beyond the building itself.