Band on the Terrace

The sun shone during the afternoon of the 29th June when the South Cumbria Retirement Brass band came to play on the terrace at the Orangery cafe. All who attended enjoyed an hour of wonderful music while sipping tea and part-taking in light refreshments from the cafe.

During the afternoon we are delighted to announce that we raised over £100 in donations. All at St Mary’s would like to thank the band so much for giving up their free time to come and play for patients and visitors. It is hoped that they will be able to come again later in the year.

St Bernard's raises £281.45!

We would like to thank the pupils of St Bernard's School, Barrow-in-Furness, for raising a fantastic £281.45 for St Mary's! The pupils of class 5B hosted a musical evening - 'Believe' - featuring the songs of teen heart-throb Justin Bieber. The true stars of the show were Hope Armstrong and Danielle Messenger (pictured) who organised and hosted the show.

Charity Skydive – Saturday 13th August 2011

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. Imagine being able to do this for FREE whilst harnessed to a professional freefall parachute instructor and at the same time being able to help St Mary's! Stop imagining, it's real and it's happening all the time and you can be part of it...

We are looking for people from all over the country to make a sponsored 10,000 feet freefall parachute jump on our behalf and in return we are willing to pay for it! All we ask is that you raise £350 in sponsorship money in order for you to jump for free and in turn we will receive an average donation of £135. In addition to this, every extra pound that you raise over the minimum comes straight to the hospice.

The Skydive will take place on Saturday 13th August at the North West Parachute Jump Centre, Cark Airfield, Flookburgh.

For further information or a registration pack please contact Hannah on 01229 580305 or email events@stmaryshospice.org.uk. Registration packs are also available to download from www.stmaryshospice.org

Please note that there are limited places so don’t delay in sending your booking form off. Skydiving is a weather dependent activity so the pre-arranged date of your jump may be subject to change.

Carnival Glows in Summer Sunshine

Thousands of people lined the sun-soaked pavements to watch the Ulverston carnival on Saturday 2nd July. A burst of bright colours and music signalled the start of the parade, which featured more than 100 different floats, bands, dance troupes and decorated vehicles, from Ford Park.

Clog dancers, a fiddle-player and Ulverston Town Band were just some of the carnival participants getting the party atmosphere going and it was alive and kicking as revellers began dancing alongside those taking part in the parade. The usual array of colourful costumes from dancers could be seen, along with Ulverstonian hallmarks the Sons of the Desert, members of the Laurel and Hardy fan club.

After the procession made its way through packed town centre streets, it finished in Ford Park, where a gala got underway. Swarms of families descended on the park all day to enjoy fairground rides, stalls and the dancing competitions.

Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager, who took part in the parade, said: “It was a lovely summer’s day, and the town centre was packed. It is hoped that we will have raised lots of money for St Mary’s, which is this year’s chosen charity for the event. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the whole day went really well and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves.”

In a show of true carnival spirit, Ulverston Mayor, Councillor Pat Jones took to the stocks for a soaking in the town square before the parade kicked off. Other local dignitaries, including Reverend Alan Bing of Ulverston Parish Church and Mr Spours were also pelted with wet sponges in the name of fun, raising £1,850 for charity in just 30 minutes.

Sunflower Cupcakes help raise a smile :)

Two years ago in Ulverston, Windy Ash Cupcakes was set up. The cottage business had the sole intention of providing delicious homemade cakes using only the finest natural ingredients. They wanted to produce cakes that tasted as good as they looked.

Friends kept telling them that they should sell their cakes so in April 2009 they took the plunge. At the beginning they offered just four flavours. They now have over twenty and are still looking for new ones.

They only use organic flour, local free range eggs and unrefined sugar in their cakes with absolutely no artificial colours or flavours whatsoever!

All cakes are baked in small batches in the farmhouse kitchen and then each cake is individually hand decorated using fondant icing, buttercream, chocolate ganache and toffee toppings, which are again all homemade.

St Mary’s were delighted to have on sale sunflower cupcakes each day during Ulverston Carnival Week in The Orangery Café. The cakes were freshly prepared, delivered and donated FREE to the charity by Windy Ash.

We are delighted to announce that during the week the sale of the Windy Ash Cupcakes raised £200 for St Mary’s, which is wonderful. We are extremely grateful to Windy Ash Cupcakes for helping us to raise additional funds for St Mary’s.

Pictured: Bob Cheetham from Windy Ash Bakery with Zoe Guest from St Mary's

Cumbrian Way Walkers raise over £5000!

A 17-strong group of walkers, led by Martin Hughes from Barrow, embarked upon the five-day trek along the Cumbria Way walk to Carlisle, from Ulverston in memory of Linda Hughes.

The walk was held to raise money for St Mary’s Hospice, where Mr Hughes’ wife Linda was cared for before she died, aged 45, last September.

Following the gruelling 72-mile trek, the group was welcomed home with a champagne reception at the Crofters in Holbeck after finishing their journey on the 9th June.
Mr Hughes said: “The sense of achievement when the group arrived in Carlisle at the end of the 72-mile walk was immense. When we got to Carlisle, we all marched to the Cumbria Way cross together.”

“I went first to touch it, then everyone piled in. A few of the girls really struggled towards the end. One had a badly swollen knee. They weren’t going to give in, though. Everyone really wanted to get to the finish.”

“All 17 of us made it to the end, and although we all ended up with some sort of injury, we all soldiered on. It was quite emotional when we arrived back in Barrow. Everyone was waiting for us and they were all cheering. I think I learned that if you really want to achieve something, it is possible.”

The group is now planning to hold an annual fundraising event in Linda’s memory.
Mr Hughes said he was extremely grateful to Phil and Jenny Collier, who drove the group’s support car along the journey and ferried bits and pieces to them along the way.

Mr Hughes would also like to thank Tina Bayliss, Selina McKenna, Angela Forbes and Mandy Shaw for bringing daily supplies to the group.

Brand new St Mary’s shop to open its doors in Millom

St Mary’s will be opening a brand new shop on the 11th July at 12 Wellington Street in Millom. An official opening with light refreshments will then take place on the 18th July at 11am.

St Mary’s staff will be on hand to welcome customers into the store as the shop opens its doors at 10am.

The new St Mary’s shop will raise funds to support the work of the Hospice which provides expert care and a better quality of life, totally free, for patients with life-limiting illnesses throughout South Cumbria.

Funding & Operations Manager at St Mary’s, Zoe Guest said: “We are delighted to be announcing that we will soon be trading in Millom and I am extremely thankful to all our hard working staff and volunteers who have rallied round to get the new shop up and running. I would urge local people to pop by our fantastic new shop, meet the team and have a look through some of our high quality items. Every purchase or item donated to the shop will help support St Mary’s.”

Staff and volunteers will gratefully receive any unwanted clothing, books and bric-a-brac – and don’t forget to ask about volunteering at the shop. Please call Retail Leader, Emma Athersmith on 01229 580305.