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Nearly 200 singers with St Ann’s Hospice Festival Choir will be performing Handel’s Messiah as part of a nationwide series of Voices for Hospices concerts at the Royal College of Music in Oxford Road, Manchester on Saturday October 6. Tickets priced £10 are available from the RNCM box office on 0161 907 5555.
Offenders on probation are making amends by helping to collect donated furniture for the St Ann’s Hospice furniture shop on Mauldeth Road in Ladybarn near Fallowfield.
“The job requires a lot of physical effort, so the fit and strong helpers the Probation Service send us are ideal, and they have always been keen and enthusiastic about the work,” said St Ann’s Trading Manager Anthony Lord.
Tony Conway, the Unpaid Work Unit Placement Manager at Greater Manchester Probation Service said: “We give the Hospice an assurance that the people we send to help with the furniture collection are honest and trustworthy. Mostly they have been convicted of minor offences such as driving related incidents.”
Probation service volunteer Kurt Manning from Withington said: “I enjoy working on the furniture pick-ups for Hospice because it is really worthwhile and you can see it is raising money for a good cause.”
To donate furniture to the Hospice shop phone David Fisher on 0161 445 7990.
Solicitors from all over Greater Manchester are backing a Will Writing Promotion in aid of St Ann’s Hospice. Aimed at anyone who needs to have a Will written or updated and who needs an extra incentive to do this, it will run from September until the end of the year.
As part of our Will Writing Promotion, sponsored by Midshire Business Systems of Stockport, supporting solicitors will undertake more complex Will writing work such as addressing Inheritance Tax which can be charged at 40% on assets worth more than the current nil-rate band of £300,000.
The Will Writing Promotion follows the success of the Hospice annual Will Week campaign each March, where supporting solicitors agree to write a standard Will in return for their client making a donation to St Ann’s. This realised more than £27,000 in donations this year.
Solicitor Howard Burns of Manchester law firm Lewis Hymanson Small said: "I have supported St Ann's Hospice for a number of years because it is a very worthy cause. As more and more people are now in the Inheritance Tax bracket, this scheme benefits both them and a charity which plays an important role in our community."
Other solicitors across Greater Manchester supporting the initiative include Glaisyers, Farrell & Hobbs, Geoffrey Lucas, Slater Heelis Collier Littler, Hague Lambert, O’Neill Patient, Wolstenholmes, William H Lill, McHale & Co, Chafes, Gorvins, BJ McKenna, North Ainley Halliwell, Pearson Hinchcliffe, GLP Solicitors, Chafes and Gorvins.
Fundraiser, Fiona Reed, said: “Making sure you write a Will ensures your assets go exactly where you want them to go. Between now and the end of the year, solicitors taking part in the promotion have agreed to donate 15% of their final fee to the Hospice. Additionally, a gift in a Will to a charity is received in total rather than 40% going to the Government.
“If you work in the city, you could make an appointment to make you Will during you lunch hour,” she added.
A full list of supporting solicitors and their contact details can be found by visiting www.sah.org.uk/willwriting or contacting Fiona Reed on 0161 498 3664, email freed@sah.org.uk
Best known as bankers to the Queen, Coutts & Co are lending out their Manchester boardroom in Spinningfields Square, Manchester, on September 25 to St Ann’s Hospice - for an exclusive drinks reception to help the charity win corporate support from key business players across the North West.
Hospice Chief Executive Terry McDonnell said:”We are very grateful to Coutts & Co for allowing us to use their prestigious surroundings to raise our awareness among the business community across the region. We will be drawing attention to the many ways companies are supporting our charity as part of their corporate social responsibility.”
“Funding from the business sector plays a significant part in our fundraising, and support can range from donations and sponsorship to team building and volunteering projects.”
Dylan Williams, Senior Private Banker at Coutts & Co commented, “We are delighted to support 'St Anns Hospice', a local charity, in this way.
St Ann’s plays such an important role to the people of Greater Manchester. Anything we can do to assist them in reaching the very stretching fundraising targets they have to achieve just to stand still, we are delighted to help. Philanthropy has always played an important role within Coutts, and we now see our clients becoming more interested and involved in charitable giving, with philanthropy now becoming an important part of our wealth management proposition.”
Joy Kingsley, Managing Partner at leading law firm Pannone will share with
other business leaders what her firm gets out of supporting the Hospice, which
has to raise £16,000 a day to provide free care for more than 3,000 patients
affected by life-threatening illnesses across Greater Manchester each year.
Photocopier and printer specialists Midshire Business Systems (Northern) have adopted St Ann’s Hospice as their charity of the year, and teed off with a charity golf day at Mottram Hall raising £923.
Managing Director, Julian Stafford, said: “Our aim is to focus on being as proactive as we can and show our commitment to our chosen charity St Ann’s Hospice because of the vital service they provide for the community.”
In addition to the golf day, Midshire is sponsoring a Will Writing Promotion in September that encourages people to get their affairs in order and write their Will, standard or otherwise, whilst helping to support the Hospice with 15% of the cost of the Will being donated by the solicitor. The company, which recently moved into new premises in Bredbury, Stockport, will also be hosting a table at St Ann’s Latino Gala Ball and be sponsors of the Hospice Christmas Carol Concert at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on December 14.
Hospice Fundraiser, Dipti Lakhani, said: “We are so grateful to Midshire, corporate support like theirs can make a tremendous difference to our fundraising efforts, where we need to raise at least £16,000 a day to provide free care for patients with life threatening illnesses.”
A band based in Marple will be entertaining visitors to Stockport Market Place and raising funds for St Ann’s Hospice when the town celebrates “Going To Town Without Your Car” day on Saturday September 22.
Linda Lamon-Conneely will be singing her heart out for St Anne’s at the outdoor event accompanied by a bevvy of musicians who have committed themselves to helping Linda raise funds for her chosen charity.
“My late husband David was a day care patient at the Hospice before he died of Motor Neurone Disease in June 2006. He could not praise the staff enough and they really did make a difference to the quality of his life. The Hospice have to rely on voluntary donations of £16,000 a day to keep their two centres going so we are doing our little bit to help whilst bringing a bit of foot tapping fun to the day,” Linda explained.
Linda and the Lionheart’s will be playing their upbeat mix of traditional and popular songs, including some renditions of Johnny Cash tunes, courtesy of thirteen year old Kayne Burgon from Heaton Chapel, who is a recent addition to the group.
“Kayne really brings something different to the performance and people will be amazed by his singing and guitar playing.” Linda added.
The band will be performing from 11am to 3pm and their recently recorded CD ‘I Will” will be on sale for £10 with all proceeds to St Ann’s. There will also be a street collection.
Vandals have shocked staff at St Ann’s Hospice by deliberately smashing a window of a dedicated room where families view loved ones who have died.
“Fortunately the viewing room was unoccupied at the time, but it is so sad to see such a peaceful place damaged by mindless vandalism in this way,” said Bridget Lyons, Inpatient Services Manager at the Hospice in Little Hulton, Salford.
Nurses discovered the damage when the arrived on duty on Saturday morning. The window, part of new double glazing recently fitted as part of renovation work at the Hospice, appeared to have been smashed by someone throwing a wooden garden chair at the glass, which shattered across the interior of the viewing room.
“I cannot remember the last time there was any vandalism here. The people of Salford work very hard to donate vital funds we need as a charity to provide free care for our patients, and it seems such as shame that we have to spend valuable time and money on repairing windows that have only just been replaced,” said Ms Lyons.
Police are now investigating the incident and are examining footage from close-circuit security cameras that cover the premises.
Jacobs Engineering Cheadle is holding a trip down memory lane. A 70s/80s disco
will take place at the Village Hotel, Cheadle on 5th October from 7.30pm in
aid of St Ann’s Hospice. The hospice depends on the generosity of the
local community to raise £16,000 a day from voluntary contributions to
maintain this service free of charge. As well as live entertainment from a Motown
artist, there will be an auction and prizes sponsored by Manchester City Football
Club, Radisson SAS Hotels, Venture Photography and The Moss Nook Restaurant.
For tickets priced £18 to include a finger buffet call 0161 741 7800.
Regulars at the Horse & Farrier pub in Gatley raised more than £500 by joining in a charity golf match in aid of free care for patients at St Ann’s Hospice. It was one of pneumatic mattresses designed to reduce the risk of bed sores in patients.
Crown green bowlers at Cheadle Kingsway Sports Club raised £500 towards St Ann’s Hospice following a charity match in memory of member Margaret Brown who died in December.
The funds were presented by her namesake, the bowlers’ lady captain Margaret Brown to the Chief Executive of the Hospice, Terry McDonnell who said: “We are most grateful to the bowlers of Kingsway for their generous donation, which helps us continue providing free care for our patients with life-threatening illnesses across Greater Manchester.”
Media Contact: Rex Garratt, Communications Officer: Tel: 0161 498 3628 Mobile: 07870 581093 Email: rgarratt@sah.org.uk
Nearly 20 teams from local businesses helped raise more than £6,200 by competing in St Ann’s Hospice Golf Day at Mere Golf Club near Knutsford.
The winning team from S&W Garages of Atherton were presented with their prize by guest speaker Geoff Miller, the England and Derbyshire cricketer. Key 103 presenter Darren Proctor was the MC for the event sponsored by Golf Travel Club and Direct Golf UK provided the prizes.
Hospice Major Events Fundraiser, Jacinta Massey, said: “We are so grateful to those who joined us on the day and to Golf Travel Club for sponsoring the event. When we need to raise £16,000 a day to provide free care for patients with life threatening illnesses, we depend on their support to continue our fundraising efforts”.
