44th Keswick to Barrow brings in record donation

The Keswick to Barrow Walk is a 40 mile sponsored stroll through some of the country’s finest landscapes. The route starts on the southern side of the lake district town of Keswick and winds its way through some of the most beautiful scenery to Barrow in Furness.

The idea of walking from Keswick to Barrow originated in 1966 as a result of a statement made by the late US President, John F Kennedy to the effect that 'every American should be capable of walking 50 miles a day'. At this time the first Polaris Submarine - HMS Resolution was being built at the shipyard in Barrow and several American experts were resident in the area assisting with the project.

With the idea now conceived, plans were soon under way to organise a walk and build relationships with the crew of the submarine and the workers at the then ‘Vickers’ shipyard. The initiative was taken by the Installation Manager (Submarines) to formally challenge the Commanding Officer of HMS Resolution to form a team and walk from Keswick to Barrow (approx 50 miles) on 1st April 1967.

The Commercial Department of Vickers heard of this challenge and joined in the walk making it a three cornered contest with the crew from HMS Resolution. The Crew of HMS Resolution finally won the contest in face of severe competition. The distance of the walk was later reduced by moving the start out of Keswick to prevent any problems which might arise through congestion on the difficult entry to the town. The more convenient start point of Rough How Bridge was established with a final measured distance of approximately 40 miles.

This year the walk took place for the 44th time and £234,576 was raised from the event, which took place in May. On Wednesday 24th November all funds were given away to hundreds of charities at a presentation evening, which took place at the Forum 28 in Barrow. Since the walk started nearly 2 million pounds has been raised. This year St Mary’s was awarded £14,449 a record individual donation to a single charity. The Hospice cannot thank the organiser’s and walkers enough for this wonderful contribution.

Howard Graves Completes New York City Marathon

We are very pleased to tell you all that on the 7th November, Howard Graves from Broughton Beck, successfully completed the New York City Marathon. The New York Marathon is a major annual marathon covering a distance of 42.195 km / 26.219 miles. The course runs through all five boroughs of New York City. It is one of the largest marathons in the world.

New York 2010 was to be Howard's first overseas marathon and he wanted to mark the occasion by raising money for his local hospice, St Mary's. Howard commented: "St Mary's provides a fantastic service to the local community in Furness and the South Lakes region, but in the present economic climate needs even more help to raise funds so that it can maintain the vital work that it does.”

Howard completed the marathon in a time of 4 hours and 11 minutes. He said: "It was a brilliant day - the crowds and the weather were fantastic."

Howard would like to thank all of those who sponsored him. If you haven't already done so, it's still not too late at www.justgiving.com/howardgraves

Howard has already passed his original target of £1,000 and is well on his way to his new target of £1,500!

Got Talent? Enter the 30/30 Charity Challenge & represent St Mary’s Hospice!

Local people in Cumbria are being given the opportunity to step into the talent spotlight and win a share of £2000 for their chosen charity in the 30/30 Charity Challenge launched by Furness Building Society.

We are looking for as many people as possible to step up and take part and raise funds for St Mary’s Hospice. If you don’t think you have the talent then please pass this information on to anyone who you know who would like to participate to raise money for us.

The talent can be anything from singing, dancing or playing an instrument to magic, comedy or juggling! But it has to be entertaining and fun. The ideal way to record the video audition is on a mobile phone, but it can also be captured on a computer webcam or on a digital camera and can feature a single entertainer or a group. Film clips should ideally be submitted in an MP4 format.

The video clips should be sent to info@lakestv.net with name, age, contact number and details of which charity they are representing. Alternatively the video clip can be handed in at a Furness Building Society branch or at any of the Society’s agents. Please submit your clip as soon as possible!

The best 12 individuals or groups will be invited to perform live on stage in the North West 30/30 Charity Challenge Grand Final on December 3 at the Coronation Hall in Ulverston, Cumbria. Judging will be by text message, audience votes and a panel of experts to decide who gets the cash prizes for their charity; £1,000 for the winner and a further £1000 to be divided amongst runners-up.

Vote for Help the Hospices to be the Football League's Charity of the Season

Help the Hospices has been shortlisted as one of six charities to be the Football League’s charity of the season 2011/12. The vote is open to football fans and all members of the public and is open until Wednesday 8 December. Should they be successful Help the Hospices have proposed twinning each of the 72 clubs in the Football League with their local hospice(s) for fundraising. They are currently aiming to raise £500,000 for Marie Curie.

Help the Hospices needs all hospices to encourage their supporters and staff to log on to the Football League website to cast their vote for Help the Hospices. A vote for Help the Hospices is a vote for a local club to support our hospice.

http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/CharityVote/0,,10794~1778615,00.html

Unfortunately not every hospice will be involved in the partnership but they are asking all hospices to encourage their supporters to cast their vote as it will mean the League supporting hospice care in 2011/12.

More information about the clubs in the Football League can be found at www.football-league.co.uk

Sponsored Skydive raises £285!

We would like to thank John Wright for bravely taking part in a sponsored 10,000 feet freefall Skydive in aid of St Mary's Hospice. John's jump, held at the North West Parachute Centre, Flookburgh, was a birthday gift from his wife Julie who is an Inpatient nurse at St Mary's. Jumping in memory of Jack Wright and Thelma Gardiner, John raised a fantastic amount of £285.

Pictured: John presenting his cheque to Helen Adams, friend and nurse at St Mary's.

If you feel as brave as John did and you would like to take part in a sponsored skydive to raise much needed funds for St Mary's, please email events@stmaryshospice.org.uk

Lakeland Country Fair raises £500!

We would like to thank all of those involved in the Lakeland Country Fair, held on 15th August in Torver. The event raised an amazing £500 for St Mary's Hospice.

The help we receive from the local 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.

Pictured: Richard Walton, Chairman and Alison Bolt, Secretary of Lakeland Country Fair Committee present a cheque to Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager or St Mary's Hospice.

Vote for St Mary’s Hospice to benefit from the NatWest Community Fund

The NatWest Community Fund forms commitment to support the communities that they work in. They have received over 18,000 nominations for the fund and regional panels and have selected shortlists of three charities/projects for each local area.

St Mary’s Hospice has made it to that shortlist!

Simply use the form on the Community Fund website to find the shortlist for your area and then vote for the charity or project which you think deserves to benefit most from their support.

The charity or project with the most votes will receive £3,000 with the two runners up receiving £1,000 each. Vote now.

https://communityfund.natwest.com/Vote

There are 16 days left to vote!!

To find out more about the community fund: https://communityfund.natwest.com/Home/About