Josie, who has worked for Forest Holme Hospice for six years, uses the ferry on a regular basis to visit patients under her care.

Mike Kean, managing director of the Sandbanks Ferry Company, said, “Forest Holme is the official charity partner of the Sandbanks Ferry Company until November 2020. Due to the recent lockdown and restrictions, we have been unable to actively participate in as many fundraising activities as we had hoped, which is naturally disappointing to us, as Forest Holme Hospice is a cause very close to our hearts.

“The palliative care which Josie is able to give patients in their homes on the Isle of Purbeck is a lifeline to many, and we hope that by offering Josie the ability to travel on the ferry without cost, we can play a small part in enabling this vital work to continue.”

Kirsty Perks, fundraiser at Forest Holme Hospice, commented, “We are incredibly grateful to the Sandbanks Ferry Company for their generosity to help make Josie’s job that little bit easier during the Covid-19 crisis. We have seven community specialist palliative care nurses based at Forest Holme Hospice, who work across an area of East Dorset spanning from Bere Regis to Swanage to Cranborne in the north, and they have continued to work tirelessly to support the many differing and complex needs of our patients during this pandemic in ways we could not have imagined.”

The Sandbanks Ferry Company operates a regular service between Shell Bay in Studland and Sandbanks in Poole, running daily between 7am to 11pm. For more information, visit sandbanksferry.co.uk .