Theme: Fundraising

St Ann’s is not the only organisation celebrating a 50th birthday this year – so too is Girlguiding in the Northwest!

Several Girlguiding leaders from Stockport will mark the joint anniversaries by completing our Manchester Virtual Walk next month.

The 10km event recognising St Ann’s special milestone can be completed wherever, whenever, and however participants like. We are encouraging walkers to take on the challenge over our big birthday weekend from the 14th – 17th May, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t make those dates!

Meanwhile, rainbows, brownies, guides, rangers, leaders, and trefoil guild members are holding various celebration events to mark a half century of Girlguiding regionally.

Its Stockport county has been around for 47 years and is thriving with around 2,000 members and 600 leaders.

Stockport County Commissioner Tracey Johnson said: “We’re still a strong organisation, though numbers have dropped slightly because of changes to meetings since the Covid guidelines have meant we’ve been unable to meet face-to-face for the past year.

“We’ve got very healthy waiting lists across all sections and I’m sure numbers will jump back up once Covid restrictions are eased further.

“Part of our 50th anniversary badge is to collaborate with another charity as old as ours, so St Ann’s was our obvious choice.

“Quite a lot of our members have had family treated there. It’s a charity that perhaps you don’t fully appreciate what it provides until you need to use it.

“The hospice has touched the lives of many Girlguiding members over the years and we’ve also had leaders who’ve spent their final days there.”

Girlguiding Stockport is also sponsoring their own frog on Stockport’s Gigantic Frog Art Trail, organised by Totally Stockport, Stockport’s Business Improvement District that works to support town centre businesses and attract more visitors. Totally Stockport has chosen St Ann’s as its charity to benefit from the proceeds of the trail. Stockport Council are also supporting the main town centre trail with frogs located in Stockport’s district centres.

To sponsor Girlguiding Stockport in the Manchester Virtual Walk visit Girlguiding Stockport NWE 50th birthday challenge walk.

Businesses in Stockport will find it easier than ever to support St Ann’s during our birthday year, thanks to our recently launched contactless donation boxes.  

Aware that the pandemic has meant more people than ever are choosing a cash-free lifestyle, our fundraisers have leapt into the digital age with contactless donation boxes, which take mobile phone and contactless card payments. They also have special collection tins and buckets that enable people to donate through their mobile using ApplePay, GooglePay, Pay Pal or card.  

Both solutions are perfect for any businesses wishing to support our hospice during our 50th anniversary year.  

Donating is easy, with the contactless donation boxes enabling people to choose from set amounts, then simply tap to donate with their card or phone. The collection tins and buckets feature an NFC chip and QR code, so people can either tap or scan the QR code to donate. They can also add Gift Aid to their donation if they are a UK taxpayer. 

If your business or employer would be interested in hosting a St Ann’s contactless donation box, tin or bucket during our 50th anniversary year, please call 0161 498 3631 or email corporate@sah.org.uk for further details. Boxes can be hosted on a trial basis and it is possible to co-brand them for a small fee.  

Three generations of the Rogers family, from Great Moor in Stockport, are preparing to take on a 10km challenge in aid of St Ann’s, which supports their mum and grandma Kath Rogers.   

The Manchester Midnight Walk has a virtual twist this year, as our team of organisers has adapted the event to ensure our biggest fundraiser of the year can continue.   

This year, we’re inviting people to sign up and take on the challenge to walk 10km over our big birthday weekend from 14th to 17th May. Participants can choose to walk 10km in one go, or to split it into smaller chunks, and can decide to complete the distance whenever and wherever they wish.  

Kath’s daughter, Beth, said: “Our mum has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and without the hospice, our family would have received very little support. St Ann’s has been everything and more over the past year. 

“We are a huge family, our mum and dad have four daughters, 9 grandchildren, and twin granddaughters on the way. Myself, my sisters and our children will be walking 10km together over St Ann’s birthday weekend. We’re hoping if my mum is well enough then my dad will bring her to meet us all at the end of our walk as well. My sister Lucy would be taking part but her twins are due the week before, so she may be a little busy! 

“We weren’t initially aware that St Ann’s offered care for people with life-limiting diseases. We imagined a hospice was just for end of life care. Which they do, they are amazing, but they offer so much more as well. We will be forever grateful for the support that St Ann’s has offered our family.” 

You can sponsor the Rogers family online here.

Baby Charles Pereira will join his mum and dad for a triple celebration and honour the grandmother who sadly will not see him grow up.

Eight-month-old Charles will be carried proudly by Carolina and Dan for the Manchester Virtual Walk, in aid of St Ann’s as we celebrate our 50th birthday this month.

The charity’s special milestone is the same weekend as Carolina’s birthday, the 14th of May, and the couple’s second wedding anniversary, the 18th of May.

The Warrington-based family are taking part in the 10km walk to raise money for our hospice where Carolina’s late mother Clara Silva was a patient almost two years ago.

Clara, who moved from the family home in Lisbon to be close to her daughter, died of pancreatic cancer, aged 64.

Carolina and Dan will split the walk over a few days, as some other participants have chosen to do, while enjoying low-key birthday and anniversary celebrations.

Carolina said: “I’m so fed up of my local park after walking around it over and over again for the last year, so we’ll probably go further afield within restrictions.

“Charles has never left Warrington yet, so we’d like to show him the beach or the mountains while he’s in his carrier.”

To sponsor the Pereira family visit their fundraising page here.

Stockport’s version of the Calendar Girls are set to make a comeback – this time dressed in stylish 70s clothes!

Members of Cheadle and Gatley Women’s Institute will be donning their fashionable flares and florals for the Manchester Virtual Walk.

This year, we’re encouraging participants in its annual 10km walk in May to adopt a 70s theme marking the decade we opened in 1971 to celebrate our 50th birthday.

An invitation the local WI has readily accepted, after 15 members sported a Calendar Girls theme last year, raising £1,200 in sponsorship for the hospice in the process.

Sandra, from Cheadle, is a sewing enthusiast and repairs dresses donated to our bridal shop, one of several voluntary roles she undertakes for our hospice.

Friend Adela Wilson, from Cheadle Hulme, has helped her make 1,000 bandanas for participants in the walk which can be done when and how people like.

The distance can be completed at once or split over days. Organisers say participants can walk, skip, run, hop or cover the distance however they wish.

Sandra has been volunteering for more than eight years since losing her husband Alan and her mother-in-law Margaret Rycroft, a patient at St Ann’s.

Sandra, who worked at Cheadle Medical Practice, said: “Volunteering gives me a sense of purpose now that I’m retired and I feel as though I’m making a difference.”

To sponsor the WI visit www.mmwalk.org.uk/fundraising/the-calender-girls-2021

Hundreds of people from across Greater Manchester will be remembering their loved ones as part of a very special appeal this Spring, in support of St Ann’s. 

Our Forget-me-not Appeal gives people the chance to reflect and celebrate the life of a loved one. Supporters can also create an online dedication in our Memory Meadow, in the form of a forget-me-not flower or iconic Manchester bee, which can then be shared with family and friends online.   

Dedications are made alongside a donation to our hospice, with money raised helping the front-line clinical teams to continue providing specialist care to our patients and their loved ones. 

No wonder primary school teacher Kevin McGrath struggled to stay awake doing his weekend homework! It involved running four miles every four hours for 48 hours.

A gruelling 48-mile challenge saw him raise £3,385 for our hospice where his late mother-in-law Tina Burkinshaw was a patient.

Tina, from Urmston, had been ill for some time before she died of ovarian cancer in July 2019, weeks after her 50th birthday.

Tina died just before her daughter Mia married Kevin, a wedding she had helped organise. The care she received inspired Kevin to push his body to the limit by running almost two marathons.

Kevin, from Davyhulme, said: “It was tough and the most difficult part was sleep deprivation. The temperature was down to zero during the night and it took me an average of 31 minutes to run four miles.

“Each time I had a hot shower afterwards and then sat in my pyjamas most of the time waiting for the next run. On the last two, I wore a St Ann’s vest to show our appreciation for Tina’s care.

“My sister’s a nurse so I know it’s not an easy job. People might think a hospice is all doom and gloom but our family didn’t get that sense at all.

“Tina’s husband David, her younger sister Lydia and Mia and myself visited every day and were amazed. Tina herself said we ought to do something as a thank you to St Ann’s if we got chance.”

Kevin’s sponsors included pupils and parents at St Bede’s College where he teaches. He boxes at Bridgewater Amateur Boxing Club and played semi-professional football for clubs including Trafford FC, Mossley and Radcliffe Borough.

To sponsor Kevin visit his JustGiving page here.

Neil Bradbury, Keith Seaton, Sean Martin and Eddie Kohler aim to complete the 958-mile journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats in nine days.

Their itinerary includes a visit en route to St Ann’s to raise awareness of their efforts to generate £4,000 in sponsorship of our hospice during our birthday month as we celebrate 50 years of care to the Greater Manchester community.

Preparations for the bike ride have been limited by lockdown restrictions which mean the group have been unable to meet up for some time.

Neil’s 20-mile round trip from home in Cheadle Hulme to work in Manchester has helped his training. He said: “We’re looking forward to getting back together again once rules allowing us to exercise with one friend only are relaxed.

“We’ve also had to stay local, making training more difficult. I’m a little nervous, especially when you begin to wonder whether the sore knee will flare up on day two. We’ll be like a mobile chemists with so many painkillers and tablets between us.”

Neil’s wife Michelle is Head of HR at St Ann’s, so the cyclists realise how much fundraising matters to our charity, as we need to raise £20,000 a day to provide our services to patients and their families free of charge.

Keith said: “The hospice’s fundraising activities have been reduced this year because of the pandemic and every penny counts, so we’d ask supporters to dig deep and even the smallest amount can make a difference.”

Sean, also from Cheadle, said: “We’re self-financing the trip so St Ann’s will receive all sponsorship. We’ll visit St Ann’s on day four and at least can stay in our own beds that night rather than hotels, guest houses and Airbnbs.”

Eddie, from Liverpool, said: “We’ve got long train journeys just to get there and back and will average 117 miles a day on the roads. It’s going to be tough and the highlight will probably be reaching the finish line.”

To sponsor the team of four, visit their JustGiving page.