Michael Bublé Comes to Dalton!

On Friday 5th August, St Mary’s Hospice hopes to bring the sounds of the outstanding Canadian crooner to Dalton when they host a special evening at Dalton Cricket Club to raise funds for the charity. Starting at 7.30pm, DJ Billy and Dave Roberts will offer a retrospective of the songs from the Rat pack and entertain the audience with tunes from some of the most famous acts of the time.

Then, Lee J Harris who has the reputation as one of the UKs brightest young stars will then perform as Michael Bublé. It will soon become clear why his tribute show to Bublé is the best around! Lee J Harris has also been touted in some circles as being a "new Sinatra" and in 'Michael Bublé live' he will show not only an extraordinary Michael Bublé tribute, but also a knack for making familiar repertoire his own.

Tickets are £10 to include Hot Pot provided by Kitchen Wizard.

Lee J Harris has a worldwide following and has been pleasing audiences of all ages for many years with his unique voice and vocal style and his vast repertoire. The St Mary’s Fundraising team are sure that this event will soon be sold out.

For further information or to purchase tickets call 01229 580305.

The C2C Challenges raises £27,629!

The C2C challenge (29 June - 02 July) is now complete. We are delighted to announce that the team of 15 riders who set out to ride 170 miles (mainly off road just to add to the pain!) starting from Robin Hood Bay on the East Coast and finishing at St Mary’s successfully completed their challenge at Ulverston Carnival.

The team actually covered 188 miles in total due to a miss calculation, but on the 2nd July had raised an amazing £27,629.06 for St Marys, which smashed their £20,000 target.

There is a blog detailing all the rider’s pain levels each day and details of their trip on the website www.stmarysc2cchallenge.co.uk

Jeff Walsh the main organiser of the Challenge said “Day 2 was really hard - 10.5'hours on a bike isn't great for anyone. What should have been an easy of road start turned out to be a nightmare! Loads of breakdowns, punctures and gears, which didn't make the day easy.”

“However, day 3 & 4 turned out to be better and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support up to and over the ride. The finish was overwhelming at the Ulverston Carnival and a special thanks to the Hospice and their team along with The Bay Radio for being so gentle with someone so microphone shy!”

St Mary’s would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved especially the 15 riders and support team who completed such an amazing challenge. The response to the ride and sponsorship has been amazing.

Support our work with a legacy...

St Mary’s was delighted to be presented with a donation for £10000 from the estate of the late Mr Colin Dale. The funds were officially handed over to the nursing team at St Mary’s on Wednesday 20th July by Mr Dale's wife Jeanette. Mrs Dale explained that Colin wanted to give something back to St Mary’s for all the loving care that he had received during his illness. The funds are to be used to purchase two new mattresses for the inpatient unit to support those patients that are unable to get out of bed and new uniforms for all the nursing staff.

It wouldn’t have been possible to purchase the new equipment without this generous gift. It costs over £2 million to run all St Mary’s services each year and the majority of the income has to be raised from voluntary sources.

Making a Will is an important responsibility that can secure the future of your family and loved ones. To make a Will is to take a step towards ensuring that those you care for are properly provided for financially.

When making your Will, please consider St Mary's if you are making any charitable provisions. The care we provide for local people is beyond price for those who benefit and your legacy will help us continue to provide that care. You can be assured that all funds given to St Mary’s will be spent locally and will support someone in your community.

The importance of legacies to our funding cannot be over-emphasised. They constitute one of our largest single sources of income making a massive contribution to our ability to have a positive effect on so many people's lives. Whether you have personal knowledge of the care we provide or just want to support those with a life limiting illness, you can make a real difference when you generously leave a legacy to St Mary’s.

For further information about including St Mary's Hospice in your will visit: www.stmaryshospice.org/donate/legacies.php

Pictured: Mrs Dale with nurses Mary procter, Jill Park and Fiona Macdonald, modelling their new uniforms.

Leven Valley Show their Support

Inspector Kevin Spedding was banged in the stocks and pelted with water-soaked sponges in aid of St Mary’s at the popular annual fair and car boot sale hosted by the Leven Valley Support Group, which took place on June 19th and was a great success.

Leven Valley Support Group hosts this event every year, with all proceeds going to for St Mary's, which provides care for local people with life-limiting illnesses. This year’s event, on Haverthwaite playing fields, attracts hundreds of visitors for a fun-filled family day out.

The Leven Valley Support Group has once again organised a number of successful events this year for the Hospice and they have raised thousands of pounds for St Mary’s over the many years they have been working on behalf of the charity.

Members of the group presented a cheque to Zoe Guest from St Mary’s on the 22nd July at the Hospice for an amazing £7000, which has been raised during 2010-11. An absolutely fantastic achievement.

Pictured: Leven Valley Support Group Chairman Dorothy Crabtree, Secretary Marian Wilson, Michelle Farghar, Sophie Farghar and Sorrel the dog!

The Biggest Loser Raises £620!

Kimberly Clark recently run their Biggest Loser – Weight Loss Challenge 2011 and raised £620 for St Mary’s Hospice. Pictured is the winner of the competition Richard Foote who lost 3 stone and 3lbs, Heather Steele who lost 3 stone and Anita Dawes, Occupational Health Officer at Kimberly Clark who presented the funds to Zoe Guest, Funding & Operations Manager at St Mary’s.

Try Sports Day 2011

FREE sports were on offer throughout the day on Sunday 10th July at Lakes Leisure Ulverston. The leisure centre offered a wide range of activities free of charge on its annual Try Sports Day; and this year the event was in partnership with St Mary’s Hospice who organised a 1k and 5k fun run for all the family.

The idea behind Try Sports Day was to encourage members of the local community to try a variety of different sports on the same day, learn a few skills and maybe even consider joining a local club or regular session. It was a really good opportunity to bring friends and family and have a go at some great sports together – free of charge!

Free sports available on the day included tennis, hockey, football, cricket, rugby, aikido, cardio tennis, and ruggercise! There was also a climbing wall and on site catering provided by St Mary’s.

St Mary’s is delighted that on the day they raised over £400 from the various activities taking place.

Chris Bryant takes up a fundraising weight loss challenge!

Former soldier Chris Bryant used to be a fit, healthy man, but working in the food industry has been a recipe for disaster when it comes to maintaining a fitness regime.

As a chef Chris faces temptation every day and the demanding hours of his restaurant makes exercising difficult. So the owner of the Copper Dog in Leece has chosen a slightly unconventional weight loss plan to keep him motivated. Tipping the scales at 21-stone, 1.4pounds, the challenge is to lose weight and shape up to the financial benefit of St Mary’s.

“There are two goals to this,” explains Chris. “The Copper Dog has done things in the past to raise money for Macmillan Nurses and Help for Heroes. But we decided to concentrate on home this time. Because everybody is sending money out of the area and because of the present financial situation we’re in we decided to go for St Mary’s Hospice. The second point to this is a health issue. Owning a pub and being a chef and enjoying all the wonderful things in life, I decided it’s time to get the weight down and do a good cause to raise as much as possible.”

Chris will follow a health and fitness regime over the next five months, finishing on Friday December 23. This realistic timescale will enable him to slim sensibly and work towards his goal of raising “several thousand pounds” for St Mary’s Hospice.

As part of his fundraising campaign the Copper Dog will host charity nights, including a beer and food festival on 7th October, and Chris is liaising with Furness Cricket Club and Barrow Raiders to get them involved.

Customers at the Copper Dog can also choose to donate £1 with their bill, as well as sponsoring Chris for every pound he loses.

Nuffield, in Hollywood Park, has devised a personalised training plan to help him lose weight and shape up with confidence.

The Evening Mail will be providing an update of Chris Bryant’s progress every month in Love Life.