Coal Haul - Raiders Raise Money for Hospice

The lads get loaded up with coal at Canal Foot.

On with the haul!


The finishing line at St Mary's Hospice.

The lads enjoy a well deserved rest.
Persistent heavy rain did not stop a fired up 8 man squad from the Barrow Raiders completing a gruelling coal carrying relay on Sunday 19th September. The Barrow Raiders’ aces swapped a rugby ball for a hefty bag of coal to raise funds St Mary’s. Forward and coal merchant, Brett McDermott, led the charge as the rugby league stars took it in turns to carry a 50kg sack of coal along Ulverston Canal bank and then up Ford Park to the Hospice.

The Raiders spurred one another on as they each took the load from the back of a pickup and carried the weight along the one-mile canal route. A crowd braved the rain to cheer on their heroes at the canal, and as they then made the last push up the hill.

“Just another day at the office,” said Mr McDermott as he easily lifted the bag, but some lads struggled with the grip in the rain. The lads were assisted by Mr McDermott’s father, Ged McDermott, from the family coal business, and volunteers who followed the truck.

Mr McDermott, said: “It was good turnout, despite the weather. The boys enjoyed it, and it was good of them to join in this event which was for such a good cause. We hope to have raised over £1000 for St Mary’s."

Zoe Guest, St Mary’s Hospice fundraising manager, said: “It was absolutely fantastic that the players turned out to raise money for St Mary’s Hospice in this way, especially in the very wet conditions. We really appreciate their support.”

The Barrow Raiders’ coal carriers were: Brett McDermott, Ned Catic, Zeb Luisi, Martin Ostler, Jamie Rooney, Jamie Butler, Chris Young, Chris Larkin and Mark Dixon.

Palliative Care Funding Review

The Right Care and Support for Everyone

A new review into the funding of palliative care was announced on July 9 2010 by the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, in a speech to the International Carers Conference in Leeds.

The review, chaired by Tom Hughes-Hallett, Chief Executive of Marie Curie Cancer Care, will look at how Government can make sure that the money intended to help look after people who are approaching the end of life is spent in the right way.

This will better enable patients to choose how and from whom they receive their end of life care.

The review will make recommendations for a funding system that will cover care provided by the NHS, a hospice or any appropriate provider:

- which encourages more community-based care, so a patient can remain in their own home; and

- that will be fair and transparent to all organisations involved in palliative care.

The review will cover both adults’ and children’s services and will report back by summer 2011.

The following website is designed to give you some background to the review, and the reasons why it is taking place. Most importantly, it gives you the opportunity to contribute by sending your comments, opinions and evidence via the questionnaire.

Palliative Care Funding Review Website

Make Someone's Christmas with Noel's Christmas Presents

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without NOEL’S CHRISTMAS PRESENTS and Sky 1 HD and Twofour Productions are looking for people who have been selfless or have faced adversity and truly deserve the Christmas present of a lifetime. Maybe you would like to reward someone who has remained positive despite suffering a serious illness and without this present may not have such a happy Christmas. Maybe you know someone who has done exceptional things for others, given their life to help a charity, or ill and underprivileged people; or maybe you just know someone who dreams of spending Christmas with a lost love or family member they haven’t seen for a long time or someone they have never actually met.

This Christmas starts with the TV institution NOEL’S CHRISTMAS PRESENTS on Sky 1 HD and Sky 1 as some of the nation’s most deserving, hard-working and selfless people are rewarded with a Christmas Present they will never forget. Noel Edmonds travels the length and breadth of the county surprising those people who go further than anyone else to make a positive difference to their individual communities and the people living within them. Each person selected is surprised with a once in a lifetime present or trip which they have dreamed of but never been able to have. Once they have received their present Noel then follows them as their dreams come true, making sure each person has the experience they truly deserve.

Produced by Twofour productions, NOEL’S CHRISTMAS PRESENTS has firmly established its place as must-see Christmas TV on Sky1 HD and Sky 1, with last year’s show attracting a cumulative audience in excess of 3.5 million.

To nominate someone for one of NOEL’S CHRISTMAS PRESENTS and make their wildest dreams come true or to tell them more about your story visit www.sky.com/noel or email noelschristmaspresents@twofour.co.uk or write to Noel’s Christmas Presents, Twofour Broadcast, 6 - 7 St Cross Street, London , EC1N 8UA. Or you can call 07728 268 089.

70's Nightclub Reunion Raises £500

Many of St Mary's supporters may remember dancing the nights away when the old Barrow Public Hall was home to Maxims and Scorpio. Memories of those times in the 1970s and 1980s were revived in a reunion held on Friday 10th September at the Royal British Legion on Holker Sreet, Barrow. Organisers Kim Sergant and Jane Wicks wished for all proceeds from the night to be given to local charities. They kindly donated £500 to St Mary's Hospice.

Organiser Kim Sargant commented: "We wanted to fill the place just like it was at Maxims and Scorpio." Maxims was opened by Peter Miller in the old Barrow Public Hall, facing Cornwallis Street, in 1974. It cost £25,000 to fit out the building as the town's first specialist discotheque and the only late-night club for the 19-to-30 age group. It closed as Scorpio One in the summer of 1989 as the lease on the 1850s building ran out. The hall was eventually demolished but the Scorpio name survived in a former chapel on nearby Lawson Street. For part of 1980, Barrow Public Hall had been run by Walter Floyd as Rafters before Colin Lavery opened Scorpio One in January 1981. Many famous names had played the venue through the decades from the Syd Lawrence Orchestra to The Drifters, Billy Idol and The Stranglers.

With thanks to North West Evening Mail for article information.

Pictured: Reunion organisers Jane Wicks & Kim Sargent hand £500 to Dora Greenway of the St Mary's Fundraising Team.

Cycling Coast to Coast for St Mary's

Pictures:
1. The 'Lock, Stock & Broomwagon' team begin the Coast to Coast route from Whitehaven to Sunderland.
2. Coast to Coast route end. Ready for the return route the next day!
3. The team begin the return route home from Wear to Walney.
4. Finishing the challenge at Sandy gap, Walney. Time for a well deserved rest!

We would like to congratulate the ‘Lock, Stock and Broomwagon’ cycle team for completing a Coast to Coast cycle challenge to raise much needed funds for St Mary’s Hospice. The 6 riders from Ulverston making up the team included: Wendy and Anthony English, Claire and Dave Watson, Mike Jewell and Keith Denison. The interesting team name was derived from the term ‘Broomwagon’ – traditionally the van which sweeps up the exhausted stragglers at the end of each stage of the Tour de France.

The team completed the Sustrans Coast to Coast (C2C) route from Whitehaven to Sunderland in 2 days, returning by the Wear to Walney (W2W) route over the following 2 days.

Riding for up to 8 hours a day, the first leg of the route took the team to Alston, a distance of 78 miles of very hilly Lake District cycling, including the 580 metre summit of Hartside. The second leg of 61 miles took them to Sunderland, which included the highest point of the route, Black Hill at 609 metres. When the team arrived in Sunderland they had just enough time to dip their toes into the North Sea, eat (a lot) and sleep, before turning around and aiming the bikes back towards the Furness Peninsula. The return route took them a bit further South past the famous Tan Hill pub, the highest point on the W2W route at 527 metres. The team commented that this was the hardest part of the journey – in which they battled 50 mile per hour winds. After 78 miles, they enjoyed a welcome rest at Kirkby Stephen. The final day in the saddle took them 75 miles through the Howgill Fells and the beautiful South Lakes to arrive on the West Shore of Walney at Sandy Gap.

Support for the journey was provided by Claire Watson of Gill Cycles, Ulverston, who kindly offered to transport everyone’s luggage to each destination. Claire then rode back to meet the team en route. The team made sure that she didn’t miss any of the hill climbs! Additional help came from DC Cycles, Ulverston, who offered to donate sports nutrition products to help keep the pedals turning.

St Mary’s Hospice and the cycle team would like to thank of all of those who sponsored the team for each stage of the ride.

Snooker Competition Raises Funds for St Mary's

We would like to thank the members of The Cemetery Cottages Club in Barrow for raising £100 for St Mary's Hospice. The money was raised through snooker competitions held on Monday nights by Ken Irving of Plymouth Street, Barrow.

Pictured: Mike Anderson of St Mary's Hospice Fundraising receiving a cheque from The Mayor, Ken Irving and the two snooker finalists.

Florence kindly donates £300 from her 90th Birthday Party

We would like to thank Mrs Florence Chelton for kindly donating £300 to St Mary's Hospice. The money was raised at her 90th birthday party when she asked her guests to donate what they could instead of purchasing gifts. Mrs Chelton was delighted at how much was raised and commented that she had a thoroughly wonderful day.

Pictured: Florence Chelton presenting the £300 to Dora Greenway of the St Mary's Fundraising Team.