|
|
||
Soccer legend Peter Reid scored for his fans when he opened St Ann’s Hospice summer fair at Little Hulton on Sunday (June 29).
More than 500 people braved pouring rain to support the event which raised more than £6,000 toward free patient care at the hospice, which costs £24,000 a day to run.
The former Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City manager, who lives nearby, signed autographs for fans and chatted to visitors as he toured the host of sale stalls at the fair.
Hospice Fundraising Officer Margaret Beck, said: “It was fantastic having
Peter’s support and we are grateful to everyone who turned out on such
a wet day to help raise funds for our patient care.”
Cheadle Heath based Pure Innovations Ltd, a not-for-profit social enterprise turned yellow on Friday 27th to support their charity of the year St Ann’s Hospice. All Pure Innovations staff and service users in Stockport including their head office, adult daycare centres in Stockport and Middleton, and their cafes participated and paid to dress up in yellow and their Café Pure cafes served up yellow food of all descriptions.
Pure Innovations Ltd, provides supported employment for individuals with disabilities, turned their cafes into fundraising centres for the charity by selling a wide variety of yellow cakes, tarts, lemon meringues, bananas and melons. Visitors to the cafes, located throughout Stockport were able to purchase the food and contribute to the collections.
Volunteers and staff from both St Ann’s and Pure Innovations attended Bramhall Tea Rooms to meet with park visitors and enable them to contribute to the collection and buy Go Yellow Merchandise.
The tasty treat and event was promoted by Pure Crew, Pure Innovation’s community volunteers who undertake a wide variety of activities, as well as promoting Stockport’s local community radio Pure 107.8 fm, raised hundreds of pounds for the hospice appeal. Pure Innovations Marketing Manager, Maggie Baldwin, said: “It was great fun thinking up all sorts of tasty yellow treats to sell, especially for such a good cause as St Ann’s, which we have adopted as our charity of the year.”
A unique artwork created out of thousands of coloured test tubes, usually used for blood samples in hospitals, will soon be unveiled at the St Ann’s Hospice Neil Cliffe Cancer Care Centre located at Wythenshawe Hospital.
The unveiling will co-incide with the official opening of newly refurbished entrance and reception area at 11am on June 19 by the founder of the unit, retired business Mr Neil Cliffe.
Patients, staff and volunteers at the counselling and therapy centre have spent the past three months filling individual test tubes with different coloured emulsion paint and placing them in a matrix to re-create the image of an unsung heroine of the nursing profession – a Jamaican nurse called Mary Jane Seacole.
Mary was a determined nurse who saved thousands of British soldiers lives by setting up a nursing ‘hotel’ next to the fighting lines at Balaclava during the Crimean War in 1855. The artwork depicting her image will be displayed in pride of place in the newly refurbished reception at the cancer care centre, and is due to be unveiled on June 19.
Manchester artist Liam Curtin, a former patient at the centre, who has master minded the project, said: “The artwork celebrates the importance of blood testing and the valuable work of nurses and healthcare staff.”
National Volunteers Week (June 2-7) is highlighting how volunteers add a unique difference to the way patients with life-threatening illnesses across Greater Manchester are cared for at St Ann’s Hospice at Little Hulton.
With a team of more than 600 volunteers helping out at St Ann’s, their value if paid at minimum rates would be more than a £300,000 a year.
“But their value is really priceless because of the passion and dedication they put into their volunteering to help our patients,” said the Hospice’s Volunteer Services Officer, Louise Johnson.
Commenting on the rewards of volunteering, Gillian Braywood from Worsley said: “I work in an office most for the week, but on my day off I volunteer to help patients at the Hospice because I get to meet so many lovely people.”
Fellow volunteer, Dot Southern, from Swinton, added: “I have retired as a nurse and now I have more time, I love volunteering at the Hospice as it gives me the chance to give something back for the way they looked after my husband when he was a patient here.”
Commenting on the role of volunteers at the Hospice, patient Mrs Rose Booth from Swinton said: “They are wonderful and just spoil me rotten.”
Diners will be offered the chance to tuck into a delightful dessert in aid of St Ann’s Hospice Go Yellow appeal at the Quarry Bank pub in Timperley this month.
For licensee Keith Regan has conjured up a lemon sponge cake especially to raise funds for free patient care at the Hospice. “Any customer who orders our Go Yellow sponge for dessert will mean a donation to St Ann’s,” said Keith.
St Ann’s Fundraising Officer, Louise Kelly, who sampled the dish, declared: “It’s simply delicious and such a tasty dish in aid of a good cause.”
Pupils at Outwood Primary School in Heald Green are turning yellow in aid of St Ann’s Hospice. For they have been dressing up in that very colour to raise funds for the Hospice’s annual Go Yellow appeal during June.
Their headteacher, Paul Cunningham, said: “The pupils are having great fun raising funds by selling all sort of Go Yellow sunflower badges and cuddly bears as keep sakes.”
St Ann’s Fundraising Officer, Mel Gait, said: “We are so grateful to the school for their support of our Go Yellow appeal to raise vital funds to provide free care for patients at the Hospice. Outwood Primary has supported the Hospice in a number of ways over the year, and as a result of their efforts, the school will be going forward for our annual Young Citizen of the Year awards, which recognises the efforts of young people in supporting St Ann’s and the community.”
Manchester law firm Addleshaw Goddard not only sponsored last week’s Manchester Midnight Walk in aid of St Ann’s Hospice with a £20,000 cheque, their staff also raised over £2,000 by taking part in the walk as well.
Scott Goulding, the firm’s charity co-ordinator, said: "We were extremely pleased to take part in the Manchester Midnight Walk, especially as we have such strong links with St Ann's Hospice, one of our two Charities of the Year in Manchester.
“Our team of 76 Addleshaw Goddard staff had a great time walking the city centre course in the early hours and left the finish line with a fantastic sense of achievement. I'm sure it will be talked about for a long time back in our office. We hope that the team’s involvement in this year's event will help to raise nearly £2,500 in much needed funds for St Ann's Hospice, and we look forward to our ongoing relationship with them.".
Hospice Fundraising Officer Dipti Lakhani said: “Addleshaw Goddard’s sponsorship meant that nearly all the money raised by the walk will go towards providing free care for our patients with life-threatening illnesses from across Greater Manchester.”
Nearly 2,000 supporters joined in the 10km trek through Manchester city centre on May 23, which the charity hopes will raise more than £100,000.
A race horse auctioned off for a year to the highest bidder in aid of St Ann’s Hospice has produced its first winning results for its new owner.
The five-year-old gelding called Diktatorship came in second place at Wetherby races, resulting in a £700 cash prize for a local businessman who paid £11,000 for the race horse at a charity Sporting Dinner at Mere Golf Club.
Although he will not have the trouble of stabling the horse, the auction winner is entitled to claim any of Diktatorship’s winnings in races over the coming year.
Mere Golf Club captain Alan Baxter, who owns a racing stable in Leek, Staffordshire, donated Diktatorship for one year as a unique charity auction prize for St Ann’s Hospice. Diktatorship is already on top form with two wins and nine placings to his credit.
After the race, Alan Baxter commented: “I’m delighted Diktatorship’s new owner is already getting a return on his charity investment. On current form, I am sure there will be more cash winnings to follow yet.”
National Volunteers Week is highlighting how volunteers add a unique difference to the way patients with life-threatening illnesses across Greater Manchester are cared for at St Ann’s Hospice.
With a team of more than 600 volunteers helping out at St Ann’s three centres at Heald Green near Cheadle, Little Hulton in Salford and the Neil Cliffe Cancer Care Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital, their value if paid at minimum rates would be more than a £300,000 a year.
“But their value is really priceless because of the passion and dedication they put into their volunteering to help our patients,” said the Hospice’s Volunteer Services Officer, Louise Johnson.
Commenting on the rewards of volunteering, St Ann’s Hospice volunteer Anita Lee, a retired project leader from Heald Green, said: “The more I put into helping the patients at St Ann’s, the more I get out of it.”
Fellow volunteer, Rita Astbury, from Timperley, added: “I’m a retired nurse and just love working with people like the patients we meet at the Hospice. I also volunteer as a driver, and it’s a delight to to collect the patients from their homes and bring them to the hospice for day care.”
Regulars at a trendy bar restaurant in Altrincham are being served up a tasty treat to raise funds for St Ann’s Hospice Go Yellow appeal next month.
For Matthew Shaw, the chef at Fatloaf bar, has conjured up a banana and sultana sponge cake as a charity dessert in aid of the Hospice. St Ann’s Fundraising Officer, Louise Kelly, who sampled the dish, declared: “It’s simply delicious and such a tasty dish in aid of a good cause.”
The charity dessert will be on offer at £2.50 a time at the Fatloaf throughout the Go Yellow month of June, with the money being donated to St Ann’s.
An appeal has gone out for volunteers to help St Ann’s Hospice raise funds with their annual Sunflower Collection Day in St Ann’s Square, Manchester on Friday June 6.
St Ann’s Fundraising Officer Mel Gait said: “We would be delighted to hear from anyone with an hour or two to spare who might help us out with collection tins selling sunflower badges between 8am and 8pm that day.
“We will be offering refreshments for our helpers throughout Sunflower Collection Day, which is vital is raising funds to provide free care for patients with life-threatening illnesses throughout Greater Manchester, as last year’s collection raised more than £5,000.”
To help out, contact the Hospice on 0161 498 3631 or email mgait@sah.org.uk
