Leven Valley show their Support

The Leven Valley Support Group for St Mary's collected over £5000 at their recent Summer Fair at the Haverthwaite Playing Fields. The event held in glorious Summer weather proved to be the most successful yet, with hundreds of people of all ages enjoying the many attractions for the whole family.

The Group were pleased to present a cheque for £5400 as a result of their fundraising for the year, bringing the total to £64584 since the formation of the Group in 1992.

We would like to welcome our new Trustee...

We are pleased to announce that Sara Keegan has joined the board of trustees.

Sara’s experience includes years of working in the commercial world of the City of London. For the last 12 years she has been living full time in the South Lakes. She is particularly interested in assisting with any aspects of fund raising. She said ‘I am delighted to join the board at a time when St Mary’s services in the community are expanding and when the hospice building and grounds are showing the benefits of a substantial programme of improvement works. I look forward to playing my part, contributing to the continued development of palliative care services in south Cumbria.’

New Chairman for St Mary's

The trustees of St Mary's Hospice have appointed Norman Broadhurst to be chairman of the board.

He replaces Lord Cavendish, who has been involved, as chairman or in other roles, with St Mary's throughout its 20 year existence. Lord Cavendish said he 'looks forward to a continuation of the association of the hospice with Holker' that has seen many successful fundraising activities over the years.

The director of St Mary's, Alan Lodge, said 'we shall miss his direct involvement and constant generous suppport, but we look forward to a new relationship with him in the role of patron. Lord Cavendish has kindly agreed to accept this role, maintaining a tradition established by his late mother. We envisage continued valuable help, particularly with fundraising and campaigning, with perhaps the opportunity to stage events at Holker Hall from time to time'.

Norman Broadhurst is an experienced executive and company director. He is a former deputy CEO of VSEL (now BAE) and finance director of Railtrack. His roles have included chairmanships of the Chloride Group and Freightliner, and non-executive directorships with United Utilities and Old Mutual. He has now substantially reduced his other business commitments and expects to spend much more time in Penny Bridge where he lives.

Mr Broadhurst said 'I am pleased to accept the chairmanship of the St Mary's board at a time when its services are expanding to meet community needs and its central part in the provision of palliative care is increasingly being recognised. I look forward to working with colleagues to ensure continued success, while recognising that the economic climate could present some interesting challenges for an organisation dependent on the support and generosity of the community.'

Strawberry Tea Celebrations

A year of therapeutic gardening at St Mary’s was celebrated recently with a Strawberry Tea, attended by more than 100 people. A grant from the John Ellerman Foundation has funded the development of this activity. Caroline Glading, Day Therapies Manager, said ‘as we ‘bring the outside in’ with the completion of the orangery, horticultural projects are inter-weaving with other therapies to offer patients and those who care for them new opportunities to benefit from our beautiful site’.

The afternoon included a presentation about the horticultural project and a film was shown describing St Mary’s services for the community. About £700 was raised from raffles, and cake and plant stalls.

Mary James, Gardens Co-ordinator, said ‘people have been incredibly kind over the last year in donating plants, equipment and time to ensure a successful start to an activity that will now be a permanent feature at St Mary’s. We are always grateful for volunteers to help maintain the beauty of the hospice gardens. They are open for people at any time to enjoy the tranquillity and peace they will find there’.

Famous face Monty gets 'huge pleasure' from return to Holker

The charismatic gardening writer and TV presenter pulled in the crowds at Holker Garden Festival. The former Gardeners’ World frontman met visitors and exhibitors on Saturday, during the sun-soaked three-day event, which attracted 22,500 people.

Monty presented the Made in Cumbria awards and presided over an auction for St Mary’s Hospice. He has been off our screens since suffering a minor stroke last year, and fans were delighted to see the recovered star looking well. Onewoman told him: “You’ve been in my lounge for years,” to which he replied: “I’ve loved every minute.” Monty is not returning to Gardeners’ World, but is set to make his TV comeback with Channel 4’s Monty Don’s My Dream Farm, following people switching from urban to rural life.

Returning to Holker after a two-year gap, Monty said: “It’s lovely to be back because I enjoyed it the first time. This is not a part of the world I visit very often, but when I do, I’ve had huge pleasure from it. I like the way at Holker gardening is integrated with other things, with food, with all the different things that make up a region, because gardens alone become limited and you become a much better and interesting gardener, and consequently you get better gardens, if you relate it to every kind of life that happens in an area.”

Monty said he loves festivals that are “local, have meaning and character”, something Holker “has in spades”. He added: “Quite a lot of it is to do with Lord and Lady Cavendish, there is a lot of personal input.”

St Mary’s are delighted to announce that they raised £5927.78 over the weekend, which is the most that they have ever made at the festival. In addition to this they raised an extra £895 selling Superdraw tickets.

St Mary's would like to say: "A big thank you goes out to everybody who helped at the festival over the weekend. The volunteer time provided to support us at this event was greatly appreciated and we hope to see you all again next year."

Walkers out in force to raise money for St Mary's

Hospice nurse Julie Wright completed her third Walk to Remember after signing up for the first with her mum three years ago. Sadly she lost her beloved mum Thelma Gardiner before they could take part. She and her sisters walk in her memory, like so many of the 600 plus women taking part who dedicated their efforts to the special person written on their walk number.

Because the St Mary's Hospice Walk to Remember is a poignant occasion everybody is very supportive of each other. It's also a fantastic fundraiser for St Mary's Hospice, which costs £2 million a year to run, funded by the generosity of the community. The walk raised £40,000 last year, but with more participants this year, we hope that total will be eclipsed.

There was a real buzz as everybody converged in Asda car park just before 10pm. Even in the failing light the overriding pink theme was unmistakable - pink T-shirts, pink fairy wings and wands, pink cowboy hats and pink bunny ears. As part of their goodie bags all participants received glow sticks to illuminate them along the 11km route around Barrow.

Mrs Wright is still nursing blisters from last weeks Keswick to Barrow walk but the camaraderie kept her going. As well as being a personal challenge, having worked for the Hospice since it opened in 1989, Mrs Wright has seen first hand how vital it is for the local community.

"It's a very special place," says Mrs Wright, from Leece. "I think anybody who's had connections with the hospice would find it a calm, relaxed, welcoming and supportive environment. My own mum ended up dying in there so I have personal experience of the hospice and what it offers to patients. All the money goes to supporting the services the hospice provides - running an in-patient unit, day services and the Hospice at Home service, where the nurses go into the community to support people who choose to be in their own home in those last days. "

The Walk to Remember is a women-only event but a number of men, like Mrs Wright's husband and dad, support the fundraiser as marshals. Fundraising and Volunteer Manager for the Hospice, Zoe Guest said: "I want to thank all the ladies who have taken part and all the volunteers who have helped us, also Asda Barrow for all their support and Diane Singleton for the warm up, and especially Bob Clegg who does all the risk assessments for the walk and advises me where to place the marshals. We've had more ladies than ever walking this year - around 620. The biggest team effort was from James Fisher and Sons and BAE Systems have supported us with first aiders."

St Mary's celebrates 25 years of support

Hospice staff and support workers reflected on 25 years of considerable achievement at a topping-out ceremony and open day on 25th April. Members of the public were able to see at first hand the major £500,000 “bringing the outside in” project that is under way at St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston.

The conversion of office space into what is effectively a giant conservatory on the front of the old house will give patients a clear and relaxed view of the magnificent grounds and garden area.

And to help celebrate the occasion there was also a tree-planting ceremony – of a liquid amber tree – by the three original founder members of the hospice, Reverend Nick Gosswin, Mrs Margaret Berry and Mrs Clarissa Kavanagh. Mr Gosswin told onlookers that it was back in 1984 that they came up with the raw idea of a hospice for the South Cumbria area.

He said: “We had a vision of a place of peace and tranquility and after a lot of heartache and headaches the hospice was eventually opened (by Princess Diana) in 1990. It has since built a reputation as the centre of excellence where the treatment and care is unsurpassed."

Hospice director Alan Lodge said that, when finished, the sun room and sun terrace would open up the hospice to the garden and sea views. He said: “We hope it is a place that patients, visitors, families and members of the public will come and enjoy.” Dr Helen Clayson said the extension included a refreshments area and hoped it would prove to be a social hub. She said: “The hospice now provides nine beds for inpatients, a day service and a growing hospice at home service.”

Zoe Guest, St Mary’s Hospice fundraising and volunteer manager, said the open day included performances by the Ulverston Victoria High School Swing band and Dalton Our Lady’s School choir. And she gave thanks to the Department of Health and others who have provided grant funding for the project.