Florence kindly donates £300 from her 90th Birthday Party

We would like to thank Mrs Florence Chelton for kindly donating £300 to St Mary's Hospice. The money was raised at her 90th birthday party when she asked her guests to donate what they could instead of purchasing gifts. Mrs Chelton was delighted at how much was raised and commented that she had a thoroughly wonderful day.

Pictured: Florence Chelton presenting the £300 to Dora Greenway of the St Mary's Fundraising Team.

Forge Europa - Raising Money for Hospice Care Home & Away

Forge Europa, Ulverston is assembling a team of cyclists to undertake the gruelling 100km route from Carlisle to Ulverston on 3rd October 2010. The ride across the beautiful English Lake District includes a number of ‘leg burning’ climbs and is being attempted to raise money for two very worthwhile charities:

St Mary’s Hospice – Local palliative care
St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston (Charity Number 517738) provides specialised supportive and palliative care for people throughout South Cumbria with life-limiting conditions. All St Mary’s care is provided free of charge, but it is not cost free and relies on the support, generosity and goodwill of the community.

CAFOD – Bikes for carers in Africa
Forge Europa wants to also support hospice care for those living in the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged communities. By raising funds for bicycles (each bicycle costs £50) organised through CAFOD (Charity Number 285776) health care workers who are often volunteers, can administer medicines, support, food and nursing care to many more people in their own homes in rural Rwanda, Nigeria and Mozambique.

50% of all donations matched
Forge Europa is committed to giving 50% matched fund raising which means for every £1,000 raised through sponsorship, Forge Europa will donate a further £500. Please help them reach their target of £20,000 for charity by sponsoring the cycle team.

JustGiving sends your donation straight to CAFOD and/or St Mary's Hospice respectively and automatically reclaims Gift Aid on all eligible donations, so what you give is worth even more. Added to this Forge Europa is committed to giving 50% matched fund raising which means for every £1,000 we raise through sponsorship, Forge Europa will donate a further £500 so your donation can help us raise so much more money! The fundraising target to is £20,000!

It's easy to donate online with a credit or debit card - just go to the following JustGiving pages. The first link is to make donations to CAFOD and the second link is to make donations to St Mary's Hospice. You can of course divide your donation between both causes by using both links below to make donations:

To make a donation to CAFOD: http://www.justgiving.com/CumbriaWayCycleRideCAFOD

To make a donation to St Mary's Hospice: http://www.justgiving.com/CumbriaWayCycleRide

St Mary's Santa Dash 2010

Sporting stars the Barrow Raiders swapped their rugby outfits for Santa Suits when they launched the St Mary’s Hospice Santa dash on Tuesday August 23rd.

As they launched the event at Craven Park the Raiders were full of festive cheer.

“We are delighted to be launching this year's Santa Dash, which will raise vital funds for St Mary’s. We are proud to wear our red Santa suits and hope others will support the Hospice by signing up to take part,” said Brett McDermott.

St Mary’s hopes that hundreds of bearded Santa’s, will be taking part in their first ever Santa Dash, on Sunday 28 November. The festive event starts at 1.30pm and after travelling a mile the Santa’s will finish at Victoria Gardens in time to join the Dickensian Grand Parade, which proceeds through the town centre at 2.30pm.

Everyone who enters the 1 mile run/walk will get a free Santa Claus costume, which they get to keep, and there will also be a medal for all who complete the run.

Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager said “We hope our Santa Dash will be a really fun event for all the family and we hope to see hundreds of Santa’s running through the streets of Ulverston. The Hospice provides supportive and palliative care for life-limiting illnesses and to their families, both at the Hospice itself and at home. The Santa Dash will helps us to raise the funds we need to continue to offer these vital services.”

“Even though it is summer and the sun is shining, it is a great time to sign up for the challenge so you have plenty of time to get fit” said Zoe.

People wanting to take part in the St Mary’s Santa Dash can enter individually or as a family. Entrants must be 4 and over, and all those under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Entry is £12.50 per adult and £7.50 per child with a special offer of £30 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children.

To enter please call the Santa Dash Hotline on 01229 580305.A registration form will also soon be available to download from our website.