Jump for St Mary's!

Imagine standing at the edge of an open doorway in an aircraft flying at 14,000 feet - the noise of the engines and the wind ringing in your ears with only the outline of distant feilds below. Now imagine leaning forward out of that doorway and letting go - falling forward into the clouds, diving down through the air as you start freefalling at over 120mph! Then imagine the peace and quiet as the canopy opens, the steering toggles come down either side of you and you begin a tranquil descent from a mile up in the air, steering yourself back down to the centre of the drop zone below.

This is what 25 people did on Saturday 12th September 2009 to help raise money for St Mary's Hospice, which provides palliative and supportive care for those with life-limiting condtions throughout South Cumbria. The programme of jumps took place at the North West Parachute Jump Centre, Flookburgh and each of the brave participants raised a minimum of £130 for the charity with many raising much more. A further 5 individuals will be taking the plunge on the 26th September.

Zoe Guest, Fundraising Manager said "We would like to thank all the very brave people who volunteered to do this and who have raised a significant amount of money to help support our work."

This event was so popular that we have decided to host a second 10,000 feet freefall parachute jump in September 2010. If you feel brave enough to take part, and would like your name to be placed on the waiting list please email hannah@stmaryshospice.org.uk

We will ask you to raise £395 in sponsorship money in order for you to jump for free and in return St Mary's will recieve an average donation of £140. In additon to this, every extra pound that you raise over the minimum comes straight to the hospice, so we encourage you to raise as much money as you can.

Please note that limited places are available. Skydiving is a weather dependent activity so the pre-arranged date of your jump may be subject to change.

Want a taste of freefalling from 14,000 feet? Click here to watch a video of one of our supporters Justin jumping for St Mary's!

Voices for Hospices

World Hospice and Palliative Care day and Voices for Hospices is taking place this year on 10th October. Events will be taking place in 70 countries around the world on the day and during the week leading up to that date to raise awareness of local services, and to highlight our work. Events will include a global wave of Voices for Hospice concerts, education events and public awareness activities.

St Mary's would like to celebrate in style and on Thursday 8th October 2009 we will be holding our "Voices for Hospices" event at the Nines on Dalkeith Street in Barrow-in-Furness from 7pm until late. The event will see a group of local "celebrities", paired up with a team of well known local singers including, Pete Murphy, Denis Horan, and Steve Silver, and together they will sing a duet to compete to be the Voices for Hospices Champions 2009.

All contestants will be singing songs of their choice and will have been sponsored to perform in front of a live audience. A special team of judges will form a panel for the evening, but the audience will decide who will be the event winners.

Tickets are £5 each and can be purchased from The Nines, any of the St Mary's Charity Shops or from St Mary's Hospice, Ulverston. For more information please call 01229 580305 or email events@stmaryshospice.org.uk

Kendal Torchlight Procession

On behalf of the patients and staff of St Mary's Hospice, we would like to thank all of those involved for giving your time and effort to support St Mary's at the Torchlight Procession street collection in Kendal on Friday night or at the the Westmorland Shopping Centre, Kendal in the afternoon. During the day volunteers collected a total of £299.30 and in the evening £990.51 making a grand total of £1278.81. All funds raised will enable St Mary's to continue to provide comprehensive supportive and palliative care to adults in South Cumbria.

We really appreciate all the help we received and we look forward to seeing you again in 2010.

We would like to thank Neil and Sue Little who raised £326.42 for St Mary's!

The couple organised a rowing machine marathon at Kendal Morrisons. A staggering total of 50,000 meters (31 miles) was achieved between them in just under 3 hours!

Neil Little would like say: "Our thanks go to the Manager, staff and customers of Morrisons in Kendal and to my work colleagues at Mardix in Kendal."

Do you fancy a fun and exciting challenge with the added bonus of making a difference at the same time? There are hundreds of enjoyable ways to help raise funds for St Marys! If you would like to see your innovative idea come to life please email events@stmaryshospice.org.uk or call our Fundraising Team on 01229 580305.

Celebrate the lives of people you love...

Christmas is a time of celebration and reflection, but can also be an emotional time for many of us. At this very special time of year, one of the most important hospice events takes place. Light up a Life is the opportunity to remember and honor significant people in our lives.

This year Light up a Life will be held on:
Wednesday 2nd December at Barrow Town Hall, 4pm
Sunday 6th December at St Mary's Catholic Church Ulverston, 4pm

In return for a donation, a light will be placed on the Hospice tree. The dark winter nights during December will be illuminated and remind us all of the importance that light has in our lives. The lights shine as a celebration of the life of someone who has been dear to us, whether family or a close friend.

If you would like to add a light to our tree in memory of a loved one, you can download a nomination form from www.stmaryshospice.org/lual

If you would like us to post you a nomination form you can call our fundraising team on 01229 580305 or email info@stmaryshospice.org.uk

Trash to Cash

Reef TV are making a third series of the BBC1 programme 'Trash to Cash', that involves people raising money for charities and good causes across the UK.

The show will help people recycle, refurbish and repair the clutter in their homes in order to raise money for themselves and a good cause of their choice. Half of the money they raise will be for a personal project, and the other half will be donated to charity. The producers of the show have approached Help the Hospices and asked whether the friends and supporters of any local hospices would like to be involved in the show, to raise funds for the hospice they support.

The TV team will help them sell anything and everything that they no longer need, with a team of experts who help to make money by selling items through newspaper ads, local dealers, scrap merchants, salvage yards, auctions and a garage sale.

If you know someone whose home is crammed with clutter and would be happy to donate half of the money they raise to charity please contact Hannah from our fundraising team on 01229 580305 or email hannah@stmaryshospice.org.uk

The series will be filmed throughout August and September and we are trying to find people to take part as soon as possible!

Hospice Heroes Rise to Challenge

Spectators at the Hospice Heroes cross-country fund-raiser would have been forgiven for thinking Christmas had come early.

That's because one of the runners turned up as Santa Claus. But the outfit was not enough to earn the man the prize for best fancy dress. Instead that gong went to Keith Muldoon, who dressed as a caveman.

The event held on Saturday 15 August at Hawcoat Sports Club in Barrow was the first men-only, 5k fun run held by St Mary's but attracted some 90 entries.

David Fulford was first home in 19 minutes 16 seconds. Peter Savage was only a few strides behind and took second place. Ashton Coward came third.

The honour for most money raised went to Ross Taylor, who brought in £580.

Hospice fund-raising manager Zoe Guest said they decided on a fund-raising run for the men with fancy dress optional. She said "We have a ladies' Walk to Remember at night and thought this would be a good idea. It has been a succeess and we'll sit down, as we always do after an event, and have a look at the format for next year."

The hospice is BAE's main charity. As well as shipyard workers, the entrants included some whose relatives have been comforted by hospice care. Refreshments were laid on at the sports club.

With thanks to North West Evening Mail for use of article.

To view all of the photographs from the event please click here.