Theme: Fundraising

Damian Lacey is an Advanced Clinical Practitioner at our hospice and is taking part in his second Tour de Manc this May.

Damian says: “I did the Tour De Manc last year and absolutely loved it. It was so much fun, the views were brilliant but I am hoping for more sunshine this year!

“I commute to work most days, cycling 20km there and back so I’m always telling people to get on their bike and cycle around.

“I’m hoping to get a group together from St Ann’s Hospice to complete the Tour de Manc with me, it’s great that all levels of ability can take part and I encourage everyone to come along and give it a go.”

Prices start from £30.00 depending on your chosen route but whichever you chose, you get £5 off Tour De Manc prices when you sign up with St Ann’s.

With you discounted place, we ask that you aim to raise a minimum of £150 in sponsorship for us.

Tour de Manc allows you to take in the sights of Greater Manchester and enjoy the fantastic, welcoming atmosphere at this proper Manc cycling sportive, all while fundraising for our patients.

There is a variety of distances to suit riders of all abilities. There are four routes you can choose from: Northern Quarter (32 miles), Manc Challenge (75 miles), Classic Full Manc (108 miles) or the Mad Manc (126 miles).

“From the moment you arrive on the day there is a real build-up of excitement as you take your bike and meet everyone else doing the challenge. There are brilliant staging areas with music and energy that gets you ready to ride!

“I’m hoping for more sunshine this year, particularly at the finish line. I was going to take on the Manc Challenge but in a moment of madness I’ve signed up for the Classic Full Manc so it really will be a challenge!”

To sign up and get on your bike to raise money for St Ann’s Hospice, you can register at www.sah.org.uk/tdm.

If you have any questions about the event please contact our Events Team at events@sah.org.uk or call us on 0161 498 3631.

Nick Shepherd, future-pro Chair, announced that the money raised throughout the night from the raffle would be going towards St Ann’s Hospice’s Build It Together campaign.

An amazing £5795.99 was raised on the night, which will all go towards building a new hospice in Heald Green that is vital for the patients and loved ones at St Ann’s Hospice.

“The current hospice site in Heald Green is an unfit for purpose building, however one that they manage to do incredible things in which is improved by the inspirational people who work there.They turned what should have been a dark time in my families lives to something which I look back on as happy memories.

“This story represents thousands of individuals in hospices across the UK right now and to those of you who may have had experience with hospices before will know what a haven they really are.

“However, you probably have no idea how little funding they really get, only receiving 1/3 of funding from the NHS and needing to raise an additional £20,000 every day to keep the doors open.

Nick attended the Spade in the Ground event at St Ann’s Hospice last year which commemorated the start of the building works that this project has been working towards.

Liz Greenwood, Capital Partnerships Fundraiser at St Ann’s Hospice, says: “I had a wonderful evening at the Made in Manchester Awards celebrating everyone who was nominated and recognising the work they’ve done.

For more information on how you could support the Build It Together campaign, please see here.

“St Ann’s was very close to the choir’s hearts as the hospice had cared for one of our own members – a very dear friend – whom we sadly lost last year.

“We love what we do; we sing from our hearts and enjoy making people smile.”

Offerton Methodist Choir came to our Heald Green site for a cheque presentation earlier this month, so that we could thank the choir for raising a brilliant £5,100.

This money is going towards our Build It Together campaign, which is raising the final £2 million we need to build a new hospice next door to our current building in Heald Green which is 150 years old.

From 10k races to marathons on Sue’s list for the year, she’s embarking on a very busy running schedule!

Sue says: “My mum spent the last two weeks of her life at St Ann’s Hospice in Heald Green as she had a brain tumour, she died when she was 58 years old. It took me a long time to go back into the hospice, but when I did go back it was to buy some Christmas cards.

“I realised what a lovely place the hospice is, not what you’d think a hospice is at all. After I started to visit, I thought it would be nice to volunteer which I’ve now been doing for 15 years.

Sue is dedicating herself to taking part in a race a month this year to test her limits and bring together friends and family in supporting her.

She has already run the Tatton 10k this month and is running the Hale 10k in February and the Wilmslow Half Marathon in March.

Other notable races Sue is taking part in are the Manchester Marathon, Might Stride Kiltwalk in Glasgow and Palma Half Marathon in Majorca.

Sue says: “I’ve been running three times a week and my rest days include yoga, I’ll be following a plan all year to prepare for each race. My friends kept asking me to run the Manchester marathon, and I’d booked a few races in for the start of the year so I thought I may as well do one race each month!

“I’m so glad to be doing a variety of races around the country and further afield, it will be great to be together with my friends who are joining me for races and who have already supported me.

“I’m aiming to raise £2,000 by the end of the year to support St Ann’s who are so close to my heart. The hospice has been part of my life for 28 years and I would like it to be there for a very long time to come.

“That’s why I’m fundraising for the Build It Together appeal which is building the new hospice in Heald Green to continue providing vital care for patients, loved ones and our community.”

Please visit Link to support Sue in raising as much as she can for our hospice.

Last week, our patients and staff at our Little Hulton hospice were visited by the Salford Red Devils who came to spread Christmas cheer and joy.

Mark Sneyd and two new signings Cade Cust and Joe Shorrocks were serving mulled wine and mince pies to everyone at our site.

The three players took the time to talk to our patients and staff and their warmth, friendliness and kindness really meant a lot to everyone who met them.

We are calling for support this festive season through our Christmas appeal, with all donations making a difference, no matter how big or small.

Just £20 could help to stock the drinks trolley so that our patients and families could enjoy a hot drink or festive tipple together this Christmas Day. £30 could pay for a counselling session for someone who has been bereaved and struggling with their first Christmas since losing their loved one.

Heather Bennett, In-Memory and Legacy Fundraiser, says: “The relationship between St Ann’s Hospice and Salford Red Devils is so important in highlighting what community support really means.

The hospice was visited by some of the team last year, who served a special Christmas dinner to our staff to celebrate the hard work they do all year round.

“I know Christmas is a busy period for the staff, so hopefully the mince pies and mulled wine were a welcome boost.

“As always, it was great to see our players in attendance and I encourage anyone to help with their ongoing Christmas appeal!”

For more information on how you can support us this Christmas, please see our Christmas appeal here.