NOMINATE ST MARY'S HOSPICE NOW!

BANK LAUNCHES NEW FUND TO SUPPORT LOCAL COMMUNITIES

NatWest and The Royal Bank of Scotland ('RBS') today announced details of a new fund to support local charities and projects, and are inviting customers and local people to decide who should benefit from this new community initiative.

Last month NatWest and RBS launched a charter setting out their commitments to customers and what they can expect from the bank(s). As part of the charter, which was based on direct input from 30,000 customers, they have made a commitment to support the local communities they work in.

Customers and members of the local community can nominate a charity or project by visiting their local NatWest or RBS or by logging on to www.natwest.com/communityfund and www.rbs.co.uk/communityfund

Once all the nominations have been received a panel consisting of representatives from the bank, local people and community figures will select three charities/projects from those put forward. The community will then be invited to vote for their favourite of the three, with the most popular receiving a £3,000 grant with the two runners up each receiving £1,000.

Jon Fox, Regional Managing Director for NatWest in the Midlands, said: "NatWest (RBS) has a long and proud history of helping good causes and our Community Fund will bring this support to a new level. By asking local people to nominate and vote for the community charities/projects which are important to them, the fund will be directly supporting the communities the bank serves."

Jon added: "By way of an additional support for the community, the bank has granted our employees a day away from the office to help local good causes. We hope this element of our customer charter will deliver more than 10,000 days of community volunteering in 2010."

Please spare a moment of your time by voting for St Mary's Hospice through each of the following links:
www.natwest.com/communityfund
www.rbs.co.uk/communityfund

Are you willing to jump out of a plane for charity? If so, St Mary's needs you!

Imagine standing at the edge of an open doorway in an aircraft flying at 10,000 feet - the noise of the engines and the wind ringing in your ears with only the outline of distant fields 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 parachute descent from a mile up in the air, steering yourself back down to the centre of the drop zone below.

So far 19 people have applied to jump for St Mary’s Hospice on Saturday 11th September 2010 to help raise money for the charity in Ulverston, which provides palliative and supportive care for those with life-limiting conditions throughout South Cumbria.

There are, however, still 11 places available and St Mary’s would like to fill them all if possible. Therefore, if you have been considering taking up a skydiving challenge and would like to be involved, please contact Hannah at St Mary’s on 01229 580305 as soon as possible.

Zoe Guest, Fundraising Manager said “We would like to thank all the very brave people who have volunteered to do this so far and are busy raising a significant amount of money to help support our work. If we could find another 11 people who are willing to take the challenge it would be a fantastic help for St Mary’s.”

The programme of jumps will take place at the North West Parachute Centre, Flookburgh.

St Mary's Team takes on The Cumbria Way

This year, St Mary’s Hospice needs to raise £2 million from voluntary contributions to provide all its current services and in the present economic climate this is going to be increasingly difficult. To raise vital funds to support the work of the charity, Dr Helen Clayson, Medical Director and Zoe Guest, Fundraising and Operations Manager will be taking on the challenge of walking the Cumbria Way.

The Cumbria Way is an exhilarating journey through some of the most beautiful and contrasting landscapes that Cumbria offers. Stretching from Carlisle to Ulverston the route offers the challenge of 70+ miles of walking through some of the most scenic and inspiring landscapes in Britain as well as (hopefully! a massive sense of achievement at the end of it. Starting on the 20th August, the team will be splitting the route into 5 stages of approximately 14 miles, finishing back at St Mary’s Hospice on the 24th August.

To sponsor the team you can either telephone the fundraising team at the Hospice on 01229 580305, visit one of the St Mary’s Hospice shops throughout South Cumbria or go to www.justgiving.com/ZoeGuest

Most of the walking is on established paths along valley bottoms with only 3 steep ascents and should be achievable by most fit walkers. Therefore, if anyone would like to join the team in walking one of the stages of the route please contact St Mary’s on 01229 580305.

Day one – Carlisle to Caldbeck - 15 miles
The first day of the Cumbria Way trip starts with gentle rolling farmland and easy tracks. Keeping for the most part to farmland, woodland walks and tracks following the River Caldew from Carlisle.

Day two - Caldbeck to Keswick - 16 miles

Day three - Keswick to Langdale - 15.5 miles

Day four – Langdale to Coniston – 13 miles

Day five - Coniston to Ulverston - 16 miles
Ending at the Cumbria Way marker sculpture in The Gill at Ulverston

St Mary's First Race Night is a Great Success!

Thank you to everyone who helped to make Friday's race night a success. A special thank you must go to Fundraiser Jim Goggin who worked tirelessly to ensure that the evening was a hit with all those who attended and to attract sponsorship. We are pleased to announce that we made a profit from the event of £1084.65 and with match funding, which we managed to get from Barclays Bank plc for £750, we made a grand total of £1834.65. We will be hosting a second race night in the near future - event details will be posted on our website.

Michelle gets ready for the Great North Swim

We would like to wish Michelle Milburn the best of luck when she takes part in the Great North Swim on September 4th 2010.

The Great North Swim is a one-mile open water swim in beautiful Windermere, Cumbria. The challenge is open to swimmers of all abilities and last year an impressive 6,000 swimmers took part over two days.

So far Michelle has raised a fantastic £200 from those who have sponsored her. The money will be split between the St Mary’s Hospice at Home Service and St John’s Hospice Outreach, Lancaster.

Michelle has decided to take part in the Swim to raise money for both hospices, after he mother, who was diagnosed with cancer, received home care in the last few months of her life. Michelle’s mother was able to remain at home throughout her illness, in familiar surroundings, with her family and friends by her side. This was made possible by the help of St John’s Hospice Outreach Service who give support by relieving carers.

Michelle commented: “I want to thank them for their hard work, and want to help raise money to enable more people to be cared for in their own home.”

Michelle came up with her fundraising idea while watching the Great North Swim in 2009. “I had not swum in 20 years but I thought it looked a good challenge. The swimmers made it look easy. My mum had just been diagnosed and I thought this would be a good challenge for me and a great way to raise money for the Hospices.”

Michelle started training by swimming on a regular basis and she soon got back in to the rhythm. On Tuesday 20th July she did her first swim in Coniston Lake. Michelle had been putting this part of her training off, so her friends made sure that they attended for moral support!

“I found swimming in the lake very different to the swimming pool. The water was brown and I couldn’t see more than 2ft into it. It was very daunting and I worried about what was lurking beneath the surface! The cold water took my breath away and I was unable to do my usual stroke. Swimming further out I reached the middle. I started to doubt myself and felt anxious that there was no bottom or sides to touch and we just had to keep going. The skies were dark, it was raining and I was cold. What was I doing out here?!”

Michelle completed her training session with the help of encouragement and support from her friends. “I continued and started to enjoy myself. It was an amazing feeling bobbing around in the middle of the lake looking at the view with heavy rain falling. I now feel much more confident and I am ready for my next training session.”

Good luck Michelle!

Cadbury Dairy Milk Launches Limited Edition Bar for Help the Hospices

As part of its Charity of the Year partnership with Help the Hospices, Morrisons has teamed up with Cadbury Dairy Milk to raise money for hospice care.

Exclusive to Morrisons stores across the UK, Cadbury today launched a limited edition Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar of Plenty in Honey Flake and Pecan.

Ten pence of every sale of the new chocolate bar will go directly to Help the Hospices, the UK’s leading charity supporting hospice care throughout the UK.

Mike Palfreman, director of fundraising at Help the Hospices, says:
"We are thrilled that Cadbury Dairy Milk is supporting our Charity of the Year partnership with Morrisons. We aim to raise £1 million from the partnership, helping us to support our member hospices in their vital work caring for people with life-limiting and terminal illnesses and their friends and families. We hope the money raised from sales of these Cadbury Dairy Milk bars will help make our £1 million target a reality."

Luciana Andreoni, brand manager for Cadbury Dairy Milk, says:
"As with the current Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar of Plenty flavours, Honey Flakes and Caramelised Pecans were the result of our researchers going through hundreds of recipes until the tastiest combinations were found. We’re really pleased to offer the bar exclusively to Morrisons and to work with Help the Hospices. We’re sure Cadbury Dairy Milk fans will love the flavour and really get behind this cause."

Ryan Turnbull, chocolate buyer at Morrisons, says:
"It’s fantastic that we’ve worked so closely with Cadburys to help support our Charity of The Year – Help the Hospices. It’s great to see our charity Raise a Smile logo on these delicious bars of plenty. In turn, by donating part of the proceeds to this important cause we can help people currently in hospices and their families raise a smile of their own."

Available in 140g bars, Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar of Plenty in Honey Flake and Pecan (£1.59 RRP) will be stocked in Morrisons across the UK from Monday 19 July until stocks last.

Morrisons Supermarket Raises a Smile for Hospices

Help the Hospices is delighted with the enthusiasm that Morrisons colleagues throughout the UK have been putting into fundraising since the beginning of the partnership.

St Mary’s are delighted to be working closely with the Barrow in Furness store. Since the official launch on 19 May 2010 the store has raised £1759.33 for St Mary’s. So many local people have contributed to the Raise a Smile for Hospices campaign and supported St Mary’s through the bucket collections and other activities. Thank you for all your support so far.

The summer fundraising campaign is about celebrating being with friends and family and raising awareness of the support hospices give to friends and families.

The campaign runs from 10 July 2010 and culminates with a bucket collection week from 9 to 15 August when St Mary’s staff will be back at the Barrow store. We look forward to seeing you then.

Pictured: Members of the St Mary's 'Hospice at Home' team and Barrow in Furness Morrisons staff enjoying the collection.