Millom Fashion Show raises £923!

We were delighted that 100 people came to the Tin Chapel in Millom on Friday 25th November for our fashion show arranged by the volunteers from our Millom shop.

A host of volunteer models showcased examples of clothing available from the hospice shops, which were all available to purchase after the event. All the models strutted their stuff to help raise funds for St Mary’s.

Zoe Guest, fund-raising and operations manager said “£923.20 was raised for the hospice.”

“It was a wonderful evening and it was nice to see the event being so well supported by local people. We were trying to encourage people to shop at our charity shops and demonstrate how good recycled clothes can be. We wanted to show that you can pick up excellent bargains at the St Mary’s shops and we wanted to get away from the negative image that second hand clothes have.”

The volunteer team has worked so hard over the last few weeks to make the event special and we were over-whelmed with the amazing response on the night. We would once again like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped make the evening a success.

Sonja Foster raises £1432.21 at The 2011 Lakeland Trials

We would like to thank Sonja Foster for taking part in The Lakeland Trials Marathon Race in 2011. Through sponsorship Sonja raised an amazing £1432.21 for St Mary's Hospice.

Sonja would like to thank all of her neighbours, friends and everyone at The Park Leisure Centre in Barrow-in-Furness for kindly sponsoring her.

Pictured: Lorraine Irving, Fundraising Leader presenting Sonja Foster with her fundraising certificate.

TALENTED PERFORMERS CAN WIN CASH FOR CHARITIES

Charity supporters across the North West have the opportunity to step into the talent spotlight and win a share of more than £3000 for their chosen good cause in the Charity Challenge 2012 organised by Furness Building Society.

The competition invites performers and charity supporters to show their talent in a 60 second video clip. Full details of the competition and how to enter are on the Society website at www.furnessbs.co.uk/charitychallenge

A selection of videos will appear on the website and on the websites of media partners North West Evening Mail, Lancashire Evening Post and Bolton News. They will be assessed by a panel of judges to select 12 acts to perform live in the final at the Lancaster Grand Theatre on Saturday January 21 2012. Finalists will compete for prizes of £1,000 for first place, £750 for second place, and £500 for third place, with £100 for each of the other finalists so that all of the charities represented on stage will benefit.

The competition is open to individuals and groups and 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.

All prize money will go to the worthy causes represented in the final, and the performers sending in videos have the fun of seeing themselves online, drawing attention to the work of their charity and perhaps representing it on stage in the final.

The simplest way to record a Charity Challenge video is on a mobile phone. Videos should be no more than 60 seconds long and can also be submitted in MP4 format.

Entrants simply complete the application form with name, age, contact number and details of the charity they are representing, and send in the video via the entry section on www.furnessbs.co.uk/charitychallenge.

Closing date for entries is Tuesday December 6th

Furness Building Society Chief Executive Rob Cairns explains: “The Charity Challenge got off to a fantastic start last year and we are delighted to be able to run the competition again this year. We want it to be an annual event.”

“The aim is to help make everyone more aware of the need to support charities in the current tough economic climate, but we also hope that people will enjoy taking part and have fun doing something for their chosen charity. Our affinity accounts work on the simple basis of ‘You Save, We Give’ and we are looking forward to handing over the cash to the winners at the Grand Final.”

Further details of the Charity Challenge can be found on the Society’s website www.furnessbs.co.uk/charitychallenge together with the rules of the competition and a full list of branches and agencies. There’s also information on how affinity accounts earn cash for charities.

Keswick to Barrow 2012

Heavy showers and sunny spells were the order of the day for the 45th Annual Keswick to Barrow Walk, but the forecast did not discourage some 2300 hardy walkers and runners that descended on Rough How Bridge to set a new record entry for the event (was 2295 in 2009). Once again there were participants from right across the UK including 20 Ministry of Defence teams, 20 BAE Systems Teams and over 50 non-Cumbrian teams. There were also 30 junior teams mainly from local schools that made up around 200 of the total competitors.

In 2010, £234,576 was raised from the event, and since the walk started nearly 2 million pounds has been raised. St Mary’s was awarded £14449 a record individual donation to a single charity in 2010 and has been invited to the awards ceremony once again in 2011.

The 46th Keswick to Barrow walk has been confirmed as taking place on Saturday May 12th with registration for team’s taking place online from 16th January.

St Mary's would like to put in a team for 2012. Would you be interested in taking part? If so please email the St Mary's Fundraising Team before the 31st December 2011:events@stmaryshospice.org.uk

A successful evening with Henry Olonga

We are delighted to announce that 40 people attended our evening with Henry Olonga on Friday 28th October 2011, at Ulverston Golf Club, Priory Road, Ulverston.
Guest Speaker for the evening former Zimbabwean test cricketer, Henry Olonga delighted the audience with his life story so far and his amazing singing voice.

Henry made his international debut in 1995, becoming the youngest player to represent Zimbabwe. He helped Zimbabwe to its first ever Test victory in that game. A right arm fast bowler, Olonga was the first black cricketer to play for Zimbabwe. Olonga achieved international recognition (along with team mate Andy Flower) in 2003 by wearing a black armband in a Cricket World Cup match to protest against the policies of Zimbabwe's government, led by Robert Mugabe. This act led to a warrant issued in Zimbabwe for Olonga's arrest on charges of treason (which carries the death penalty in Zimbabwe) and forced him to retire from international cricket and temporarily go into hiding.

Henry delighted the audience with songs such as bring him home and you raise me up in between answering their questions and telling the audience about his life so far.

The event raised £910 for St Mary’s and a huge thank you goes to Henry for giving up his time to do this event for our charity and to Frank Edwards from Elliot & Edwards for providing sponsorship.

Coffee with a Difference in Millom

The staff of St Mary’s Hospice, would like to thank the volunteer team from Millom shop so much for organizing and running a coffee with a difference afternoon on Friday 28th October at the Tin Chapel. We are delighted to announce that the team raised £496 from the event in 2 hours, which is a wonderful achievement.

The afternoon was a great success with everyone coming along from the Millom community to offer their support and we really appreciate all their help.

Voices for Hospices 2011!

Our Voices for Hospice event, sponsored by the Best of Barrow and Furness, raised the roof of the Lisdoonie Hotel in Abbey Road, Barrow on Thursday 27th October.

The event, first held in 2009, paired well-known people from the community with local entertainers to produce a musical extravaganza to raise money for St Mary’s.

Over 180 people packed into the hotel’s ballroom to watch a show, which raised £1,367for St Mary's.

The event was kicked off by compere Pete Murphy, who introduced the first pair – Barrow town centre and festivals manager Ann Taylforth and her pro partner, Danielle McCauley.

Watched by the judging panel of Billy Caldwell, Derek Brook and Helen Penny (who gave interesting commentary throughout the night) the crowd were treated to a bouncy rendition of "Build Me Up Buttercup".

Barrow AFC commercial manager Martin Lewis joined Dan Clark from Codejak, whilst the Hospice’s own Sue McGraw and Melissa Thompson sported matching outfits for the Steps song “One for Sorrow.”

The Evening Mail’s Rob Johnson took the role of the Edge, with flamboyant entertainer Pete Thompson playing Bono for a rendition of U2’s “With or Without You.” And the pint-sized news editor blew the crowd away with a powerful performance.

Dalton’s the Reverend Alan Mitchell joined veteran entertainer Dennis Hume on stage, and Barrow AFC legend Neil ‘the Doc’ Doherty and Beth Wilkes set their stall out as early favourites with a great version of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.”

After a short break when a stampede was avoided at the buffet, the music resumed as the pairs performed their second number of the evening.

CodeJak singer Dan Clarke looked more at ease singing Foo Fighters hit “The Pretender” with partner Martin Lewis donning a blonde wig! Sue McGraw and Melissa Thompson again went for a matching theme, with some sparkly headgear, as they belted out "Edge of Glory". And the crowd got more than they bargained for as Pete Thompson stripped to his boxers and gyrated alongside Rob Johnson during "Disco 2000". And they were also treated to a raunchy performance of “Cry Me a River” by Poole Townsend’s Martin Oates and Lisa Hart. The Bay’s Rochelle Berry joined local singer Lindsey for a stirring rendition of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.” Janet Helm from Cumbria Fire and Rescue and Sarah Talbot ended the performance to rapturous applause from the increasingly enthusiastic audience.

However, it was the former AFC winger Doherty and vocalist Beth Wilkes who got the audience vote and snatched the trophy by one point.