The Hospice Information Service at St. Christopher's was founded in 1977 by Dame Cicely Saunders with the aim of helping people to learn from each other. The service demonstrated the fundamental principles of hospice care; a call for openness to patients, families, ourselves and to those who come to learn.

Sharing information and experience has been a key element of our work. From the start, we drew on the resources of St. Christopher's: a clinical base, a specialist library and an education and research programme. Gradually we encouraged other hospices to contribute their experiences, culminating in a range of Fact sheets and articles that have helped countless teams around the world to catch a vision and adapt it to local circumstances.

Many of our current links with teams in almost 100 countries stem from the connections made so long ago by Dame Cicely, the St. Christopher's team and by so many others involved in hospice care. The information service has developed significantly since 1977, facilitated by funding from Macmillan Cancer Support and Help the Hospices, and from subscriptions from hospices. But we also owe our current development to the contacts made and foundations laid so carefully in 1977.