At Sobell House Hospice in Oxfordshire, chef Spencer Richards is dedicated to creating meals filled with care and compassion for those nearing the end of their lives.
For him, cooking for terminally ill patients is far more than a profession—it’s a heartfelt calling. Speaking to the Mirror, Richards shared that he considers it the greatest privilege to bring comfort through food in a patient’s final days.
“My own philosophy is that there can be no greater privilege as a chef than serving someone their final meal,” he explained. “Recently, we had a 21-year-old patient who didn’t feel connected to anything on our standard menu. He loved street food, so together we made that happen.”
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Richards also recalled the joy of baking a birthday cake for a 93-year-old woman who had never celebrated her birthday before.
“When we surprised her, she was in tears—absolutely over the moon,” he said.
In fact, birthday cakes are one of the most frequent requests at Sobell House. Richards explained that while these gestures may seem small, they can mean the world to someone who feels lonely or isolated.
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Adapting meals is another important part of his work. Many patients in palliative care lose the ability to swallow, while their taste buds change due to treatments and medications. Richards has noticed that cancer patients, in particular, often develop a sweet tooth, while most need meals with little or no salt.
“Food is such a powerful, emotional thing—it can bring back childhood memories or help create new ones,” Richards said. “That’s what we aim to do here.”
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