CHARITY BAND NIGHT IN AID OF ST MARY'S

Thank you to Lee Arrowsmith!

The Fundraising Team at St Mary's would like to thank Lee Arrowsmith for presenting the Hospice with a cheque for £1300. This amazing amount of money was raised through sponsorship of his epic run at the London Marathon and a Golf Competition at Furness Golf Club in Barrow.

To raise £1300 is an amazing achievement and to gain so much sponsorship from the local community is fantastic. Lee hopes to run the New York Marathon later in the year.

Pictured: Lee Arrowsmith presenting his cheque to Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager at St Mary's.

Tour de Furness Fun!

The ‘Tour de Furness’ charity cycle event is organised by the Rotary Club of Furness, to raise money for St Mary’s Hospice and other Rotary charities. The idea of the event is to get cyclists of all abilities joining in to have fun while raising money for local charity.

This year the event takes place on Sunday 4th September 2011.

The cycle routes will be very similar to the routes used last year. There will again be a family fun ride of 5 miles, the Tour de Furness route of 13 miles, which passes by Furness Abbey and for cycling enthusiasts there is the, Furness 50, which covers approximately 50 miles to Coniston and back in a figure of eight. Remember that the event is not a race, it is for fun so let us hope for fine weather on the first Sunday of September!

To register on-line or for further information please go to the event website www.tourdefurness.co.uk

Ryan's Haircut raises £322.50!

Ryan Kipling is 11 years old and hadn't had his hair cut for a full year. When popping in to visit his Nana, owner of The Farmers Arms pub on Hollow Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, customers would have a joke with him about his long hair and how he needed a good cut! Ryan decided to challenge the jokers to put their money where their mouths were and sponsor him to get the much needed cut!

So Ryan rallied around collecting sponsorship in preparation for his looming hair cut on 19th July. Ryan raised an amazing £322.50, of which both he, his family and The Farmers Arms customers are very proud of. The staff at St Mary's are also very proud of Ryan and would like to thank him for taking part in this extraordinary fundraising challenge!

Pictured: Ryan before and after his hair cut!!

Bridge Club play for Charity

Barrow and Grange Bridge Clubs initiated a new competition to raise funds for local charity St Mary’s Hospice.

In this Simultaneous Pairs event the same hands were played in Bridge clubs in Barrow, Grange, Kendal, Workington, Carlisle and St. Bees. The competition was scored at each club but also across the entire field.

The overall winners were two of the County’s top players, Babs Matthews (Grange Club) playing with Ian Reeves (Carlisle).

A total of £636 was raised for the charity. It is hoped that this will become an annual event.

Pictured: The Bridge Clubs present a cheque for £636 to St Mary's Director Sue McGraw

Thanks to The World of Beatrix Potter

We would firstly like to thank The World of Beatrix Potter for kindly donating a fantastic Peter Rabbit Cake to St Mary's Hospice to be used in a silent auction.

The cake, complete with Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor icing figurines, was displayed in the Orangery Cafe at St Mary's Hospice, for customers to make a secret bid in an envelope.

The winner of the cake was Mrs Marion Ainsworth who commented: "I hoped to win the cake so that I could distribute it to all the children who live on my lovely close-knit street. It really is a wonderful cake! I was delighted to find out that I was the highest bidder!"

The staff at St Mary's would like to thank Mrs Ainsworth for her generous offer on the cake.

Pictured: Representative from The World of Beatrix Potter presenting the cake to St Mary's nurses Karen Walker and Sue McDougal.

CHARITY BAND NIGHT IN AID OF ST MARY'S

A Sportsman's Evening with Henry Olonga

St Mary’s Hospice is delighted to announce that it will be hosting a charity Sportsman’s Dinner and Fundraising Auction on Friday 28th October 2011, at The Lisdoonie Hotel, Abbey Road, Barrow in Furness.

Guest Speaker for the evening will be former Zimbabwean test cricketer, Henry Olonga. Henry made his international debut in 1995, becoming the youngest player to represent Zimbabwe. He helped Zimbabwe to its first ever Test victory in that game. A right arm fast bowler, Olonga was the first black cricketer to play for Zimbabwe.

Olonga achieved international recognition (along with team mate Andy Flower) in 2003 by wearing a black armband in a Cricket World Cup match to protest against the policies of Zimbabwe's government, led by Robert Mugabe. This act led to a warrant issued in Zimbabwe for Olonga's arrest on charges of treason (which carries the death penalty in Zimbabwe) and forced him to retire from international cricket and temporarily go into hiding.

Henry also has a superb voice and is an emerging tenor, recently releasing a CD entitled “Aurelia”. He has a foundation that lies in being afforded leading roles in productions such as the Gondoliers, Annie Get Your Gun, and Joseph and his Technicolor Dream-coat and in addition, to speaking about his time in test cricket, Olonga will also be singing for the audience on the 28th October.
Tickets for the event are available now for ladies and gentlemen and are priced at £30. All funds raised will go to St Mary’s, which is the dedicated provider of comprehensive supportive and palliative care for people with life-limiting conditions in South Cumbria.

Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager said “It should be an excellent evening of entertainment and we hope to sell all 200 available tickets. We hope that the event and auction will raise much needed funds to help the Hospice to continue providing patient care throughout Furness and the South Lakes.”

The evening will commence at 7.30pm and the dress code for the event is lounge suit.

For further information please contact St Mary’s Fundraising Team on 01229 580305 or email events@stmaryshospice.org.uk

Cheaper Tickets Now Available for Cartmel Charity Race Night!

Come on girls, put on your finest outfits and help raise funds for St Mary’s Hospice at the first ever charity race night hosted by Cartmel Racecourse. There will be some fabulous prizes for the best dressed race goers (male and female) and lots of fun activities in the “Belles and Beaus” enclosure. In addition, to all the fun associated with racing at Cartmel, there will be an emphasis on fashion and the opportunity to take part and enjoy a range of fundraising activities.

Local business-woman Tracy Wells thinks that the charity event will be a huge attraction and is using her business links to ensure that a wide range of local companies and individuals become involved in the day. The milliner, who also runs a hairdressing business, says “There are many ladies who would love the opportunity to glam up and show off their finery – so what occasion than to get dressed up for the races!”

“The hospice is a very worthy cause and many of us have personal reasons for focusing all our efforts on these fundraising activities – in my own case, they showed great care and compassion to my mother in her final days”.

The first prize for the ladies will be provided by Sue Shields Face and Body Spa in conjunction with Clarins UK – a spa day for two at Sue Shields Face and Body Spa in Carnforth and a Clarins hamper worth £300. Other generous prizes contributed by local companies include: fashion shoots from Kells Photographic Images of Barrow; jewellery from Sienna (Kirby Lonsdale); designer gift vouchers from Phoebe (Ulverston); a bespoke fascinator voucher from The Hat Box (Barrow); a pair of binoculars from Lamberts (Lancaster) and one night’s bed and breakfast for two at The Castle Green Hotel in Kendal.

The Belles and Beaus Enclosure will be located adjacent to the Grandstand, a special area adjacent to the parade ring in the Paddock Enclosure, and will be decorated by Bay View Garden Centre and entrance will be through a special arch provided by Haverigg prison. All race goers will be invited to donate £5 or more to St Mary’s Hospice in return for a corsage or buttonhole, which will admit them to the Belles & Beaus Enclosure as well as demonstrate their support for the popular local charity. Chill with a glass of champagne at one of the bars, or bring your own picnic to celebrate.

For those looking for dining and hospitality, there will be Charity hospitality in Chasers restaurant starting at 3.00pm on race day. Starting with a drink and canapés followed by a sumptuous buffet meal at 4.30pm and an excellent view of the racing all guests will be treated to music provided by The Two of Us and Voce. The package costs £75 per person, £18 of which will go directly to the charity.

Although no strict dress code will be enforced, it is hoped that race goers will rise to the occasion and that women will wear hats or fascinators while the men will wear jackets.

For further information visit www.cartmel-racecourse.co.uk or call the Grandstand office on 015395 36340.