A hospice nurse has celebrated being honoured with an MBE by taking respite patients to the beach at Poppit Sands.

Kiera Jones, lead nurse at Skanda Vale Hospice near Llandysul, has been appointed MBE in the King's Birthday Honours for services to nursing.

She marked it in the way that suits her best. Over the weekend, four of the hospice's respite patients went with her to Poppit Sands, where the team used a wheelchair fitted with balloon tyres to take people down into the shallows.

Kiera said: "I didn't really believe it at first — it felt quite surreal, and I had to ask my husband to read the letter to check I'd understood! The messages of support have been amazing.

Palliative care and Soul Midwifery are about making the most of life and finding joy in it, while supporting someone as they face the end of their life, however they want to do that.

This week's beach trip is a perfect example. Some of our team and patients got to paddle in the sea and feel the sand between their toes. That joy is exactly why we do what we do."

Kiera has worked at Skanda Vale Hospice for ten years, and in palliative care for twenty-four, since a placement with a district nursing team in her second year as a student nurse.

Alongside leading the nursing team she is a Soul Midwife, sitting with people who are dying and supporting them and their families through it. She also runs events to give people a gentle way to talk about death and dying.

Brother Jakob, Hospice Manager, said: "Kiera is an outstanding nurse, but what people remember is how human she is with it. She knows the clinical side inside out, and she never makes anyone feel like a patient rather than a person.”