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A glittering array of Christmas luxury goods on sale at St Ann’s Hospice Gift Fair in the Tenants Hall at Tatton Park (November 21/22) was a huge success raising about £23,000 thanks to the volunteer fundraising committee chaired by Ann Hughes from Tabley.
Dick Hughes, a founding fundraiser for St Ann’s Hospice at Heald Green has died after suddenly being taken ill at his home in Tabley. Mr Hughes, who had retired from his business in Manchester, helped raise thousands of pounds for the Hospice by staging the annual Prestbury Golf Club charity day. His funeral was in the chapel at Tabley House on November 23.
He and his wife, Ann, were among founding fundraisers for St Ann’s when Bishop Greer of Manchester first proposed the Hospice 40 years ago. Ann, who retired as a Trustee of the Hospice in October, was the founding chairman of the Starkie Committee of volunteer fundraisers, as well as chairman of Tatton Gift Fair, which raises over £20,000 bi-annually for the Hospice.
Between them and their fellow committee members, the couple generated as much as £1million for the Hospice. “We both so enjoyed doing what we could for the Hospice over the years,” said Ann.
Paying tribute to Mr Hughes, Terry McDonnell, Chief Executive at the Hospice said: “Dick did a tremendous job raising funds for St Ann’s and he will be sadly missed.”
Here’s a last chance to win this new car pictured with Key 103 presenter Chelsea Norris in aid of St Ann’s Hospice.
Tickets are available from the Hospice at Heald Green, Little Hulton and the charity’s Neil Cliffe Cancer Care Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital until December 3. The competition to win the car - a Hyundai Getz 5-door GSI worth over £8,000 - will be drawn at St Ann’s Christmas Carol Concert at the Bridgewater Hall on December 14. The charity’s car raffle last year raised more than £33,000 towards free care for patients with life-threatening illnesses across Greater Manchester and into Cheshire.
St Ann’s Hospice Princess Phoebe Goddard, aged 10, teamed up with Key 103 radio presenter Chelsea Norris to open the charity’s Christmas Coffee Morning at Heald Green on Saturday (November 24) which raised more than £3,500.
Chelsea is a patron of St Ann’s and Phoebe, from Heald Green, was chosen as St Ann’s Princess in a competition organised by Stockport Carnival Committee.
Hospice Fundraising Officer Wendy Bray said: “It was a great success thanks to all our supporters who all got into the spirit of Christmas.”
Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell, better known as Kevin Webster, opened St Ann’s Hospice Christmas Fair at Little Hulton, which raised a record sum of £8,000. Santa Claus handed out lots of early presents to children, and hundreds of visitors turned out in force to buy a host of Christmas goodies donated by our supporters.
Shoplifters targeting charity shops are facing arrest after a crackdown by police. A male shoplifter was arrested outside St Ann’s Hospice charity shop in Sale after he was caught by staff.
The charity’s area Shops Manager Pam Senior said: “We hope this will demonstrate that charity shops are not a soft target, and we will take action to prosecute thieves who steal goods which have been donated to help provide free care for people in Greater Manchester with life-threatening illnesses.”
Ms Senior said the shoplifter was spotted carrying a bagful of clothes out of the shop’s changing room and he ran outside when challenged. “When we looked inside the bag we found assorted items of clothing with our labels still attached,” she added.
As well as clothes, thieves have been stealing charity collection boxes from the Hospice shops.
A sale of glitzy designer clothes ideal for Christmas parties gets underway at St Ann’s Hospice charity shop in Walkden this Saturday (November 17).
The shop’s manager Michele Sherridan (left) and assistant manager Brenda Russell are pictured modelling some of the glittering dresses at the shop in Ellesmere Shopping Centre, Walkden.
Said Michele: “Over the past year we have been collecting donations of dresses and accessories by designers like Armani and Gucci worth £300 to £400 each, and we will be selling them at a tenth of the price for the party season.”
A small corner of South America could be found at Mere Golf and Country Club recently when St Ann’s Hospice held its annual Latino Ball.
They let their hair down at a fun-packed Latino Ball at Mere Golf and Country Club with live music by the Casa Latina Allstars. Key 103 radio presenter Darren Proctor was the MC. Guests included Hospice patient Gerry Smith, a mother-of-three from Bowdon, near Altrincham, who has launched an appeal to buy bedside TVs for the Hospice at Heald Green.
At least £24,000 was raised on the night for St Ann’s, which provides free care to 3,000 people with life-threatening people each year across Greater Manchester.
Terry McDonnell, chief executive of St Ann’s Hospice, said: “We were absolutely thrilled with the turnout at Mere and it was deemed by all to be a very entertaining night. Most importantly however, the event served to generate awareness of the work done at St Ann’s and also raised a very handsome amount of money to enable us to keep doing that work.”
ENDS
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Vicky Beynon at Golley Slater Public Relations
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The search has started across Greater Manchester for Young Citizens of the Year – the annual awards scheme run by the Manchester charity St Ann’s Hospice.
It is aimed at encouraging individuals or groups of young people, aged between eight and 20, to engage in volunteering or good citizenship while fundraising for a charity like St Ann’s. Already pupils from 16 schools across Greater Manchester have enrolled for the awards.
In previous years, youngsters have ended up raising more than £28,000 between them for the Hospice to provide free care for hundreds of people with life-threatening illnesses across Greater Manchester and part of Cheshire.
The YCY campaign runs from now until June 2008 and to take part, young people will need to complete a voluntary task or citizenship activity, as well as a fundraising initiative in aid of St Ann’s. Some have raised money by packing bags for customers at supermarket check-outs, while others have set up cake stalls in aid of the Hospice.
Campaign organiser at St Ann’s Hospice, Wendy Bray says: “YCY is a great opportunity for young people across Greater Manchester to work together on projects that really interest them. It also provides them with a chance to show off their talents to the local community and have lots of fun in the process.” The scheme runs until June, when the winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony in Manchester.
So if you think your school would be interested in getting involved, please contact Wendy Bray on 0161 498 3662 or email wbray@sah.org.uk or visit www.ycy.org.uk
* Schools that have already enrolled for the awards include Priestnall High School, Stockport; St George’s RC High School, Worsley; Outwood Primary School, Cheadle; Walkden High School; Bridgewater School, Worsley; Cheetham Community School, Manchester; Dukesgate Primary School, Little Hulton; Cheadle Hulme School; Etchells Primary School, Heald Green; Forest Park School, Sale; Withington Girls School, Fallowfield; William Hulme’s Grammar School, Manchester; Wharton Primary School, Little Hulton; St Patrick’s RC High School, Eccles.
