Hill of an effort to raise Hospice funds

Joining forces to raise much-needed cash for St Mary’s Hospice, the Lakes Road Club and Barrow Central Wheelers have organised a series of cycling hill-climb races.

The first of the four races took place on Thursday night, with more than 30 riders taking part in the 1.6-mile Grizebeck Hill challenge.

Spectators braved the gusting winds to watch the cyclists whizz past.

Howard Lindow, event organiser, said: “The two clubs had wanted to do hill-climb racing for some time and we thought we may as well raise some money for the hospice at the same time. We managed to raise £60 for the hospice on the night.

“The weather stayed fine and we had plenty of supporters both on the roadside and in helping set up the race.”

"We had a load of volunteers turn up to assist and personally I think there was a real buzz about the evening. So Thank you all for your assistance so far and roll on the next climb at Gamswell."

Topmark Cycles, DC Cycles, Gill Cycles, The Ulverston Brewing Company and the Stone Workshop have all provided prizes for the winning cyclists.

There will be four categories in each race – 15 to 18-year-old juniors, men, women and over 45s.

For a run-down of the hill-climb series of races, visit the website at www.lakesroadclub.org.uk/hillclimbreports.php

Martyn Uttley was present taking photographs of the rather ashen-coloured riders as they crested the hill, and he'll be making these available through his website with all profits going to St Mary's: www.martynuttleyphotography.co.uk

Charity Casino Night raises £1400!

On Saturday 15th January 2011, Steve and Diane Hogan hosted a charity casino night at The Strawberry Hotel, Barrow-in-Furness. The event, raised £1,400, which has been shared equally between St Mary’s Hospice and The David Cole Training Fund for Oncology Nurses at Furness General Hospital.

Steve and Diane said they were delighted with the number of people who attended the event and by the generosity of everyone who donated raffle prizes and gave up their time to support the evening.

Urswick Charity Concert raises £3685!

Motivated by the loss of two friends, Brian Butterfield and Jimmy Spooner, local villagers organised a special concert at the Coot on the Tarn, Great Urswick on Friday 6th May 2011. The objective of the concert was to raise money for St Mary`s Hospice in appreciation for the superb care they have provided to all of the residents of Urswick and surrounding areas over recent years.

The concert, which featured Barrow Male Voice Choir, Jessika Gillam (saxophonist), Jessi Conway and Christopher Faulkner, was compared by John Mario. The Concert, was a resounding success and raised an amazing £3685.00.

The Village Organisers Damian Gorman, George Elwood, Edward Woodend and Martin Lloyd would sincerely like to thank everyone who supported the Concert. Special thanks go to all the local businesses and individuals (who are too numerous to mention individually), for providing sponsorship, donations and sales outlets.

Zoe Guest from St Mary’s Hospice said “St Mary’s relies heavily on the support of the local community and we cannot thank the organisers of the charity concert enough for all their hard work. To raise such a fantastic amount of money for the Hospice is greatly appreciated.”