With due respect to Will and Kate, all staff at St Ann’s are my “true royal family.”Peter Berry, Day care patient

All quotations are used with permission.

This week sees the launch of the Salford Advertiser’s exciting £120,000 Help Your Hospice Appeal.

Friday, May 20, 2011

To coincide with St Ann’s Hospice’s 40th anniversary year, they are hoping to raise enough funds to run a bed for a whole year at this vital facility in Little Hulton.

The £120,000 will pay for a team of medical staff, ranging from dietitians to physiotherapists, high-tech equipment to domestic workers, who help to make a patient’s stay in the hospice as comfortable as possible.

The Advertiser will be featuring your fundraising stories and delving into how the hospice supports and treats patients with life limiting illnesses, and provides assistance to their families, from across Salford and Manchester.

Sadly, too many of us in Salford know someone who has been treated at St Ann’s but it can only keep running with your help.

It costs £16,000 per day, that’s almost £9m per year,  to run the hospice, with only a third of the funding coming from the NHS.

Jayne Bessant, chief executive of St Ann’s, said: “We are so grateful to the Salford Advertiser for launching this appeal in our 40th anniversary year.

“It has been a difficult couple of years over the economic downturn, but by knowing we can at least fund one bed for a year will enable us to plan better care and continue to make a difference to those who need it.”

St Ann’s has established a glowing reputation for the range of care it offers, including bereavement counselling for families who have lost a loved one and a fully-equipped chapel, which caters for a number of religious faiths.

The hospice also runs an outpatient service, where patients can be cared for in the comfort of their own home.

So, it’s now over to you.

We are calling on our readers to show their support and get involved to help us reach the £120,000 target.

Tell the Advertiser how you will raise money for the appeal and we will feature your story.

Advertiser editor Stephanie Nelson said: “Most of us will have been touched by St Ann’s at some point in our life and will have seen for ourselves what a vital service it is.

“It is so important that we don’t take the hospice for granted and it is up to us to do everything we can to help.

“St Ann’s Hospice wants to be here for you in another 40 years time so why not Help Your Hospice?”

It’s so easy to get fundraising...

There are several ways you can help.

You can donate to the Help Your Hospice appeal online at www.sah.org.uk/salford or call the St Ann’s Hospice fundraising department on 0161 498 3630, by supporting one of our events, or by donating £5* by texting STANNS SA to 70777 (*plus your standard network rate).

To read the Salford Advertiser article please click on the link to the right of this page.