Acrastyle launches weekly lottery in aid of St Mary's

St Mary's Hospice would like to thank Acrastyle Limited, North Lonsdale Road, Ulverston, for kindly donating £230.50.

In September 2010 the company started a weekly bonus ball competition. Each person taking part pays £1 for their number and if it is drawn they receive a prize. The remaining money is saved for St Mary's Hospice and will be presented every six months.

Acrastyle's fundraising incentive will enable St Mary's to continue to provide comprehensive supportive and palliative care for adults in South Cumbria. If your company is interested in partaking in a similar scheme please contact the St Mary's Fundraising Department who will be happy to give you some advice.
Call 01229 580305
Email info@stmaryshospice.org.uk

Furness College raises £260 with Share a Card scheme

St Mary's would like to thank the staff at Furness College Barrow, for presenting a cheque for £260. The money was raised from the St Mary's Christmas Share a Card scheme which the college ran throughout December.

In the run up to Christmas St Mary's encourages workplaces to swap Christmas cards for a free A3 poster which everyone in the office can sign. Money otherwise spent on sending each other cards can be popped into the accompanying charity collection box.

Share a Card allows people to give at Christmas to a charity where it is needed most: a Christmas card may only last a few weeks, but your donations will leave a legacy for a long time to come. In 2010 a total of £2442.54 was raised from the scheme.

You can find out more about the St Mary's Share a card scheme here.

Success for St Mary's Hospice in the Furness Charity Challenge

Talented singing group Voce impressed judges with their vocal performance at the Lancaster Grand Theatre on Wednesday January 26th to win £500 for St Mary’s Hospice in the Furness Building Society Charity Challenge talent competition final.

There was also a cash prize for Macmillan Cancer Support thanks to a stunning stage performance from 12-year old classical pianist Katherine Miller from Grange-over-Sands.

Voce – Phil McIntosh, Chris Warby and Mark Johnson - performed ‘Bring Him Home’ from Les Miserables and dedicated the song to the fourth member of the group who is currently recovering from treatment for cancer. Voce are long-time supporters of St Mary’s Hospice and Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager, from St Mary’s was delighted to receive the prize of £500.

Other winners were 13-years-old Amy Jo Clough who won £1000 first prize for the Ryan Stanford Appeal in Lancaster to aid research into Alpers Syndrome, a rare genetic condition, and 19 year old student Kelsey May Cullen who won £250 for Liverpool’s Zoe’s Place Hospice for children under 5.

They were among 12 acts selected from across the North West taking part in the final of the competition which aimed to raise awareness of the excellent work undertaken by charities in the region and encourage people to step up and do something for others.

Chief Executive of the Furness Building Society Rob Cairns, who headed the judging panel, commented: “The quality of all the acts was fantastic. It was inspiring to see so many people give everything they had to aid their chosen charities, and to see the audience having such a great time supporting them. Furness Building Society is proud to have sponsored such a wonderful event – showcasing local talent and supporting local charity work.”

Bay Radio presenter Darren Milby was another of the judges along with the Mayor of Lancaster Coun. Tony Wade. Darren was also amazed at the quality of the finalists. He said:”I thought the judging would be easy, but the acts were so good, and so different, that it was very hard to select the winners.”

Quiz raises £178 for St Mary's

St Mary’s Hospice would like to express their gratitude to Liz Young. Liz organised a Bird Quiz to raise funds for the charity. Quiz sheets were available to purchase for £1 at various retail outlets throughout the area during December and an amazing £178 was raised for the charity.

There were 17 correct answer sheets submitted and so a draw was necessary. The winners were:-
1. Shirley Collins, from Dalton who won £15
2. Emma Hayes, from Ulverston who won £10
3. G Barratt, from Grange over Sands who won £5

Shirley Collins was presented with her prize at a presentation event at Dalton Town Hall on Wednesday 2nd February at 6.30pm. Mr Barratt chose to donate his prize back to St Mary’s.

Pictured: Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager for St Mary’s being presented with a cheque for £178 by Liz Young.

Angie & Alan's Charity Evening & Grand Raffle

St Mary’s Hospice would like to thank Angie and Alan Kell of Bathrooms by Alan Kell for hosting a wonderful charity evening at Chetwynde Hotel on Saturday 8th January. The evening featured entertainment by Pete Kassell and ARC. Angie and Alan also hosted a Grand Raffle with many fabulous prizes, including a brand new Villeroy & Boch bathroom suit worth £1000 as first prize and a signed Everton shirt. Locals couldn’t wait to get their hands on the raffle tickets! All proceeds from the event and the raffle were in aid of St Mary’s.


The Raffle was drawn at the bathroom show room on Monday 10th January by Zoe Guest, Funding and Operations Manager at St Mary’s Hospice. The lucky winner of the bathroom suit was Ms Zoe Casson. A grand total total of £1237 was raised.

Angie Kell commented: “We took the decision to organise the Raffle and Charity Evening as we have both been very personally touched by cancer. I lost my first husband to cancer and Alan's mum passed away in St Mary's Hospice. We both feel that we have been really lucky and have both found happiness again – we recently got married. We just really wanted to give something back to the community and show how truly blessed we are.”

Alan and Angie would also like to say a big “THANK YOU” firstly to everyone at St Mary’s Hospice for the kindness and support offered while organising the event. Then of course, to all of the raffle prize donors, their friends and family and all who attended the event to help make it such a special evening with such a significant amount of money raised.

Many thanks to the following for donating prizes towards the grand raffle:
Bathrooms by Alan Kell
St Mary’s Hospice
Burgbad Bathroom Furniture
City Electrical Factors
P.T.S
Mr Mister, Barrow
Jade Fountain, Barrow
The Diamond Restaurant, Barrow
The Chetwynde Hotel, Barrow
Mo-Hair Hairdressers Barrow
Nevinson’s Carpets, Ulverston
Efflorescence Floral Studio, Barrow
Stable’s Furnishers Ulverston
Wax Lyrical, Lindal
Vado Bathroom Accessories
The Hair Lounge, Barrow
Heath’s Bookshop
Angie & Alan Kell
Dandy’s Furniture Store, Barrow

Pictured: Zoe Guest / Funding & Operations Manager of St Mary’s surrounded by the grand raffle prizes!

John Pickering & Partners present £1,4000

We would like to say a huge thank you to solicitors John Pickering & Partners for presenting St Mary's with a cheque for £1,400.00 from their charity account.

The charity account was set up to promote and protect the health of sufferers from Mesothelioma and other respiratory diseases and their carers. The money is to assist in the purchase of a defibrillator/ECG machine.

Neil Fisher, speaking on behalf of John Pickering & Partners commented: "We are pleased to be able to assist in the purchase of the equipment which will clearly benefit many patients suffering from Mesothelioma."

Pictured: Neil Fisher of John Pickering & Partners presenting a cheque to St Mary's Inpatient Unit Sister Cath Bate and nurses Sue Lewis and Angela Irwin.

London Marathon training weekend

The London Marathon team is hosting a weekend of informative talks to help runners prepare for the London Marathon. There will be presentations on training, nutrition, injury prevention, raising money and what to expect on race day. Speakers will include David Bedford and Liz Yelling.

The Help the Hospices events team will be hosting a lunchtime session on 29 January 2011 and St Mary's Hospice runners are very welcome to join them. It will be an informal session with a talk and question and answer session. It is a great chance to meet fellow hospice care runners and feel part of a team, and to ask any questions.

Places for the weekend are limited so runners will need to register with London Marathon organisers as soon as possible if they would like to attend.