Volunteer recruitment for St Mary's cafe

We are actively recruiting volunteers to assist in our new Cafe area, which will be opening at St Mary's in Ulverston in April 2010.

There are a number of opportunities available that require different skills and time commitment and we would be delighted to hear from you.

Please come along to our coffee morning on Friday 26th February at St Mary's from 10am until noon. For further information please contact Zoe or Natalie on 01229 580305 or email volunteers@stmaryhospice.org.uk

St Mary's values all aspects of support it receives from its volunteers.

Kind donation from The Freemasons

St Mary's Hospice Funding and Operations Manager Zoe Guest receives a cheque from The West Lancashire, Furness and South Lakeland group of Lodges and Chapters of the Freemasons. The cheque for in excess of £2,100 is part of The Freemasons Grand Charity's extensive support of hospices in England and Wales. Over £8,000,000 has been donated over the past 25 years.

Left to right are Phil Gardner, assistant provincial grand master, Zoe Guest, Geoff Waters, publicity officer, and Rowley Saunders, The Furness Group chairman.

Ross's Estate Agents staff raise £200 for St Mary's

We would like to thank Ross's Estate Agents, Ulverston for raising £200. The money was raised at a birthday party held for valued member of staff Ken. Ken kindly expressed his wishes for all attendees to donate to St Mary's rather than bringing a gift. The staff at Ross's commented on the party being fantastic fun, and they all knew that they were contributing to a worthy cause.

(Ken is pictured front centre with Zoe Guest, St Mary's Funding and Operations Manager).

Many people choose to give a donation to St Mary's, in lieu of gifts, when celebrating a special occasion. Whether it's a special birthday, anniversary, wedding or christening we can provide your guests with a special card inviting then to give a gift to the hospice. Gifts in celebration are an increasing source of income for St Mary's and we are very grateful to everyone for the generosity they show in helping us in this way.

Contact the fundraising team to discuss your celebrations and gift card requirements on 01229 580305 or email events@stmaryshospice.org.uk

Models needed for St Mary's Fashion Show

We are looking for models, male and female, of all shapes and sizes, to take part in our fashion show on Thursday 18^th March 2010 at the Nines, Barrow in Furness.

Models will perform on the catwalk in front of an audience, wearing clothing collections from the St Mary’s shops and local businesses. Models will be treat to hair styling and makeup by local salons and beauticians.

The event starts at 7.30pm but models will be expected to arrive earlier and the show may run until quite late.

Further details of the event will be released soon.

If you are interested please call Hannah on 01229 580305 or email hannah@stmaryshospice.org.uk

Broughton Auction Market raises £750 for St Mary's

We would like to thank Broughton Auction Market for raising a fantastic £750 for St Mary's.

The help we receive from the community is very special and it is what enables St Mary’s to continue to provide comprehensive supportive and palliative care for adults in South Cumbria.

Origional founder member of St Mary's will be sadly missed

Pictured from left to right: Margaret Berry, Clarissa Kavanagh and Reverend Nick Gosswin celebrating 25 years of support for St Mary's Hospice.

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of one of the original founder members of St Mary’s and our dear friend, Margaret Berry. Margaret died suddenly at home on the 14^th January at the age of 81.

Back in 1984 Margaret, the Reverend Nick Gosswin, and Mrs Clarissa Kavanagh came up with the raw idea of a Hospice for the South Cumbria area and worked extremely hard to make their vision a reality.

Mr Gosswin 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."

Margaret worked tirelessly for the charity and after its establishment worked as a volunteer on reception for many years.

Her funeral was held at Thorncliffe Crematorium on Monday 25^th January.

She will be sadly missed by all who knew her.

Barrow Marks & Spencer help boost St Mary's funds

Employees at the Marks & Spencer Barrow in Furness store are celebrating after raising £3,800 for St Mary’s Hospice.

Over the last six months customers have been donating generously to the cause, whilst M&S employees’ fundraising activities have ranged from raffles to a sponsored team cycle from Workington to Newcastle that alone generated £1,000.

Andrew McKellar, manager of the M&S Barrow store said, “We’re keen to show our support for St Mary’s Hospice where the dedicated staff provide an invaluable service for our community. We had great fun coming up with ways to raise money and we were particularly touched by the many large donations from our customers.”

Zoe Guest Funding and Operations Manager of St Mary’s commented, “We are delighted by the generosity of the M&S Barrow in Furness store and their customers. All the money raised by M&S will go directly towards supporting St Mary's so that we can keep on providing care and support for patients and families. Maintaining our current services costs around £2.2 million a year, of which the hospice has to raise £1.8 million.We rely heavily on the support, goodwill and generosity of the public and organisations like M&S to maintain our services."