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

Models needed for 2011 Fashion Show

We are looking for models over 18 years of age, male and female, of all shapes and sizes, to take part in our fashion show on Thursday 14th April 2011 at The Nines, Barrow in Furness.

The event starts at 7.30pm but models will be expected to arrive earlier and the show may run until quite late. Models will perform on the catwalk in front of an audience, wearing fine clothing collections from the St Mary’s shops and Debenhams. Model hair styling will be by Paul French and makeup by Clarins, Lancome and Estee Lauder.

If you would like to take part please contact Hannah or Natalie on 01229 580305 or email hannah@stmaryshospice.org.uk

Closing date for model applications is Tuesday 1st march 2011.

Lucky lottery winner scoops £10000!

The St Mary’s lottery was established in 1998 to support the work of the hospice. The lottery currently has over 7,500 playing members and it has become a major source of sustainable funding for St Mary’s.

There is a prize fund of £1700 to be won each week! The top prize is £1000 and there is an additional rollover prize to be won starting at £200 and peaking at £10,000! There are also 12 other valuable cash prizes.

On the 16th February 2011, St Mary’s staff were delighted to present £10000 to the lucky winner of the latest rollover, Mrs Linda Gibson. Mrs Gibson was overwhelmed when she heard that she had who won the prize in the draw, which took place on the 11th February. She said “I cannot believe it. I don’t normally win anything. I was just so excited.”

It only costs £1 a week to play the St Mary’s lottery and with the opportunity to stand a chance of winning up to £10,000 while helping a local charity everyone should join! If you are not a member and would like to join then give the lottery team a call on 01229 580305 or visit http://www.stmaryshospice.org/lottery/joining.php

The lottery runs on a secure computer software programme specially designed for the purpose. Each new player is given a unique draw number, randomly generated by the computer. A draw takes place every Friday and the winners are randomly selected by the computer.

In addition, St Mary’s is delighted to announce that tickets for this year’s superdraw are now available. Tickets will be on sale until the start of December 2011 – so you have plenty of opportunity to buy them.

All supporters will once again have a chance of winning a brand new Ford Ka or one of many cash prizes. The brand new car will be supplied by Alan Myerscough Ltd of Ulverston. The lucky winner will be able to choose his or her new Ford KA from a limited selection.

To be in with a chance of winning the car or other cash prizes, all you need to do is buy a ticket at the very reasonable price of £1 each. Tickets are available from St Mary's Hospice Ulverston, St Mary’s Hospice shops throughout the area and Alan Myerscough Ltd Ulverston. For further information visit http://www.stmaryshospice.org/lottery/superdraw.php

Pictured: Lucky winner Mrs Linda Gibson receiving her cheque for £10000 from Ray Cassley, Sales Representative for St Mary's.

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.