Dr Helen Clayson receives bouquet of the week

The Trustees and staff nominated Dr Helen Clayson for the award of bouquet of the week with the Evening Mail in recognition of her hard work and dedication to St Mary’s over the last 16 years. Many local people have benefited from Helen’s expertise and she has touched the lives of many local families in her work as medical director at St Mary’s Hospice. She left the organisation on the 28th March at a time when hands-on care of people with advanced illness in the hospice and in their own homes is going from strength to strength and St Mary’s now helps more than double the number of people they were caring for a few years ago due to the addition of the hospice at home service, which Dr Clayson and the team instigated.

All the staff and volunteers wanted to recognise publicly Dr Clayson’s contribution as she headed off into semi-retirement.

Jenny Stalker, Matron said “Helen has been a wonderful doctor, who has helped so many people over the years. She will be missed by us all.”

Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager said “We all just wanted to say a big thank you to Helen for all her dedication to the charity and the empathy she has shown whilst dealing with hundreds of people and their families dealing with life-limiting conditions.”

Alex Tyson 3 Valleys Memorial Ride

The Alex Tyson 3 Valleys Memorial Ride took place on 18th September in 2010. The challenge was completed in memory of Alex Tyson. Alex was a keen cyclist, forming the Broughton Wheelers with like-minded friends, who take part in local and regional bike challenges. Alex bravely fought cancer for 2 years and sadly passed away in 2009 at the age of 45. Members of the Broughton Wheelers decided to host a mountain bike challenge in Alex’s memory. All of the 25 riders knew Alex as a friend, family
member or colleague.

The challenge was to cycle 50km off road from Broughton- in-Furness to Wast Water, by mountain bike, taking in the Duddon Valley, Eskdale and Wasdale – three of the Lake District’s most beautiful valleys.

All proceeds from the challenge were kindly donated to St Mary’s Hospice at Home service, who cared for Alex by day and importantly at night, in his last few weeks. £2500 was raised in sponsorship for the challenge and the team would like to thank all of the local businesses who supported the ride in their own way. Rider Paddy Gannon said “They helped us help St Mary’s Hospice.”

To date, approximately £6500 has been raised for St Mary’s in Alex’s memory by family, friends and
colleagues. St Mary’s would like to thank Alex’s loving wife, sister-in-law and niece for raising £1096, with the help of Haverigg Prison, by taking part in the St Mary’s Walk to Remember. A further £165 was raised when Alex’s colleagues decided to donate to the hospice rather than sending Christmas cards.

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. We cannot thank enough all of those who fundraised and gave in Alex’s memory to help support our work.

Thai Night raises £1300 to purchase new hoist

Furness Ladies Lions organized a Thai Evening at Barrow Golf Club on Saturday 19th March. The event raised £1300 towards the purchase of a hoist for our in-patient unit.

Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager, was delighted to be presented with the donation at the event, which was attended by over 80 people.

She said “ It was a fantastic evening. We cannot thank enough the ladies who arranged the evening, the caterers, dancers and all involved at Barrow golf club for all their hard work. To raise such a wonderful amount of money is amazing support for St Mary’s.”

Quiz Night raises £500!

The St Mary's Hospice Fundraising team would like to thank everyone who helped organise, provided a raffle prize and attended our Quiz night at Furness Cricket Club on Friday 11th March.

We are pleased to announce that during the evening we raised £500, which is a great support for St Mary’s and we are very grateful for all the help we received with this event.

A big thank you to everyone for their extremely generous support.

60's Night Success!

On Friday 4th March, St Mary’s Hospice hosted its first ever 60’s evening at Chequer’s Hotel in Dalton. The event was a great success and a crowd of 140 people were treated to the sound of the sixties as they were brought back to life by Pete Kassells, Second Edition, Biggles and DJ Billy.

The event raised £1200 for St Mary’s, which was a wonderful achievement and is thanks to the generosity of all those who attended and supported the raffle.

Attendees had a fantastic time as they travelled back to the time of peace signs, free love and flower power as the entertainers offered a retrospective of the songs that revolutionized the music industry. To add to the atmosphere, lots of people had taken the time to don their favourite bell bottoms, tie-dye shirts and love beads to put them in the mood for "grooving" to the very best tunes of the times. A prize was awarded for the best male and female fancy dress costume.

A big thank you goes to all the performers who gave up their time for FREE to make the evening so special, to all those who generously provided raffle prizes and to Chequers for hosting the event.

Morrisons staff take a fresh look at hospice care on visit to St Mary’s

After Morrisons stores raised more than £1.3 million for hospices across the UK, staff from the Barrow in Furness store visited St Mary’s Hospice to take a fresh look at hospice care in their local community.

The visit marked the end of the supermarket’s national Charity of the Year partnership with Help the Hospices, the leading charity supporting hospice care in the UK.

The Morrisons store in Barrow in Furness was twinned with St Mary’s hospice in Ulverston for 10 months, raising more than £6350.53 from collections, and events, which will help to provide care and support to people with life-limiting and terminal illnesses and their families in South Cumbria.

Staff from the Barrow in Furness Morrisons store celebrated the successful partnership by being given a tour of the hospice facilities and enjoying a cup of tea and a cake in the Hospice Orangery Cafe.

“Statistically around half of our customers are likely to know someone who has been cared for by a hospice. Seeing the work of St Mary’s Hospice up close and meeting people who have benefited from our support has shown us how vital these services are to local people and has given us a fresh perspective on hospice care in our community” stated Trish Carling, Administration Manager for the Barrow Store.

Zoe Guest from St Mary’s said: “Morrisons staff and customers have embraced hospice care throughout the partnership, coming up with some extremely creative fundraising ideas which have made a big difference to people facing the end of life and to their families. We are pleased to have given Morrisons staff the chance to see the impact of their support.”

All money raised by the store through staff fundraising will directly fund hospice services for people with life-limiting and terminal illnesses from South Cumbria.

Pictured: Trish Carling Administration Manager visits St Mary's Hospice and meets Funding & Operations Manager Zoe Guest

J M Western Dance raises £711!

St Mary's would like to thank J M Western dance for raising a fantastic £711 for the charity! The dance group held a line dance disco and raffle on Saturday 29th January at St Matthews Hall, Barrow in Furness. All proceeds from the dance were kindly donated.

Dance group leader Janet McKenna would like to thank all of her dance classes for coming to support the night.

Fundraising events help to raise awareness about the care that St Mary's Hospice provides, as well as raising much needed funds. If you would like to find out more about organising your own event, please visit http://www.stmaryshospice.org/events/hostanevent.php

Pictured: Janet McKenna and her line dance troop presenting the cheque for £711 to Angela Lafferty of the St Mary's Hospice at Home team