In the present economic climate, funding for the charity sector has become increasingly difficult and St Mary's Hospice must contend with an ever-increasing number of local and national charities for that elusive ‘pound in the pocket.’ It is a challenging task to maintain donor giving and the success of fundraising events, as well as to expand on current activity in order to meet higher targets year on year. We were therefore absolutely delighted to be informed in August 2008 that we had been chosen as the BAE Submarine Solutions partner charity for 2008/2009.
It has been a great 18 months for St Mary’s working together on a jointly coordinated fundraising campaign. The partnership has gone from strength to strength and we are delighted to have had the opportunity to work with the BAE team at events and on a number of improvement projects at the Hospice. Many BAE employees have given up their free time to carry out decorating, gardening or general works to improve the Hospice building.
To mark the end of the partnership a Ceildih night took place on Friday 29th January 2010 at the Nines in Barrow in Furness. It was a wonderful event and everyone who attended seemed to enjoy it. We are delighted to announce that on the night St Mary’s was presented with a cheque for £163,000, which is an amazing contribution to our fundraising target. This money raised through the campaign, represents a major contribution to our funds, and means, for example, that five nurses have been funded for a year. We are very grateful to everyone at BAE for contributing so generously in so many ways. We cannot thank you enough.
