Theme: Fundraising

We’re appealing to businesses from across Greater Manchester to take on a very special challenge this February, to help us celebrate our milestone 50 year anniversary. 

Our new challenge, ‘Move, Eat, Play, Give’ gives businesses a flexible, bespoke way to show their support of the charity, whilst staying safe and adhering to Government guidance. 

Rachel McMillan, Chief Executive of the hospice, said: “We’re one of the only hospices in the UK to reach this 50th anniversary milestone, and we’ve only managed to do so thanks to the amazing half a century of support from communities across Greater Manchester and beyond.   

“That includes local businesses, and we’d love any who have supported us over the last 50 years, or who would like to be involved as we celebrate through 2021 to get in touch. 

“Our corporate challenge will take place throughout February, and it’s been developed so that teams from businesses in the area can choose activities which best suit them, whilst also keeping within government guidelines and remaining safe. 

“We know that 2020 was a difficult year for corporates, as it was for the hospice too, but we’re hoping that this will be a great opportunity for us all to come together and do something positive and uplifting for local patients and their families – it will hopefully be a helpful way to boost team morale too, especially if teams are working more remotely due to lockdown.” 

The ‘Move, Eat, Play, Give’ challenge offers businesses the ability to choose activities from any of the four categories, tailoring activity to suit their own circumstances, needs and resources. Whether that’s a physical challenge to walk three miles a day as part of daily lockdown exercise (the equivalent of the distance that a hospice nurse walks in an average shift on the wards), holding a virtual quiz night, or collecting clothes to donate to one of the hospice shops when they reopen, there are a huge variety of ways that teams can choose to join in. 

Businesses will have the whole month of February to take part, and the business or employee that raises the most money will also receive a prize. 

Rachel McMillan added: “As a charity, we need to fundraise £20,000 a day to keep our services running and we’d be hugely grateful to any business who chooses to take part in this challenge for St Ann’s.   

“We hope that by enabling organisations to choose their own itinerary and ways to support us, it will mean that they can take advantage of the flexibility, whilst also helping us to continue caring for people in their local community. Huge thanks in advance to anyone considering getting involved.” 

Award-winning artist, Lindi Kirwin, 61, is supporting St Ann’s by donating a percentage of the sale of a bespoke Florence Nightingale painting to the charity.  

The A1 sized creation, which is on sale for £995.00, honours the Year of the Nurse 2020. Lindi has pledged £500 of the proceeds of the sale to St Ann’s, choosing to support our hospice in memory of her father, who was a volunteer driver at the Heald Green site.  

Lindi said: “2020 marks 200 years since Florence Nightingale’s birth and I wanted to give to St Ann’s during the pandemic. I believe it’s right to put something back in life.” 

The Cheshire-based artist is selling her painting online with free UK postage and packing, with potential customers able to view the painting via appointment, outside of lockdown restrictions.  

Lindi is a notable artist, who offers commercial, private, and public art, as well as commission work and workshops.  

Click the link to view or buy the Florence Nightingale portrait now here: https://www.lindi-kirwin.co.uk/portraiture/770398_florence-nightingale.html 

Clean-up volunteers in Wythenshawe have teamed up with St Ann’s Hospice to mark our 50th birthday next year.

Wythenshawe Waste Warriors were hoping to fill 2,020 bags of litter in 2020 and surpassed that figure with the total number collected by volunteers across the area reaching 3,000 so far.

They now hope each bag filled in 2021 will be sponsored for £1, with donations funding patient care at St Ann’s, which has been adopted as its chosen charity.

Father-of-two John-Paul Coe founded the Warriors three years ago when a visit to a local park with son Bobby left him upset by the litter and mess.

He decided to tidy up parks, woodlands, and streets and now has a network of volunteers helping make Wythenshawe a better place to live.

John-Paul, from Newall Green, said: “The Warriors would not have grown without the support of our volunteer partners to whom we’re extremely grateful.

“For us, St Ann’s, as our chosen charity, is also a perfect partnership. We’re linking two great causes and hopefully, the community will take up the mantle and fundraise for a charity caring for people from Wythenshawe and the wider Greater Manchester area.

“We’d like schools, businesses, scout groups, and anyone else to sponsor litter picks for £1 a bag. Our message next year is ‘Deep Clean Wythenshawe,’ improve the environment and help a great local cause.”

To help promote their campaign, the Warriors have appointed Eamonn O’Neal DL, High Sheriff of Greater Manchester and Director of Strategic Initiatives at St Ann’s Hospice, as patron.

To sponsor a litter collection visit justgiving.com/fundraising/john-paul-coe2.

Get organised this Christmas and take advantage of a special Christmas tree recycling service this year, which will not only help take away the headache of disposing of Christmas trees once the festivities are over, but will also raise money for local people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses. 

National charity, JustHelping, is organising Christmas tree collections in local areas to raise money for charities including St Ann’s Hospice.   

Trees will be collected by volunteers between 14th and 17th January, and trees can be registered at www.charityxmastreecollection.com along with a voluntary donation. The real Christmas trees are recyclable and are shredded into chippings to be used locally in parks and sports clubs.  

The collections have been run by community volunteers, sponsors, and donors for more than eight years, with our hospice receiving 80% of the net proceeds.  The 2020 collection raised over £30,000 for the patients and families that we care for. 

Fiona Cosgrove from JustHelping said:  “It’s really exciting that we’ve been able to raise such a huge amount of money for charities like St Ann’s in previous years, and we’re hoping we can do even better this time around. 

“It’s fantastic that we’re able to bring people together to raise money for such fabulous causes, and of course, the fact that the trees we collect are recycled is also good for the environment – not to mention that it takes away the headache of disposing of the tree from local people too.” 

The tree collections will be taking place in the postcode areas SK2, SK3, SK4, SK5, SK6, SK7, SK8, M20, M21, M22, M27, M30, M32 and M33, WA14, WA15. Those wishing to have their tree collected can sign up online. 

Keen cyclist, Alan Dupre, has raised £1,596.10 for St Ann’s after taking on a 75-mile cycling challenge, ending in the Peak District.  

Alan, 49, who lives in Gatley took on the challenge following the impact of Covid-19 on charities across the UK. While he has never had any personal experience of our services, he has had friends who have links to the hospice.  

Alan said: “I know that all charities have been badly hit by funding and although I’ve not had any personal experience of a relative using St Ann’s, I know those who have and they cannot speak highly enough of the care received.”  

Before the challenge, Alan had raised £750 plus gift aid, but this number quickly grew with ‘on the road’ donations with Alan collecting £48.05 on his bike ride. The donations were also doubled by Alan’s employer, insurance company CHUBB, who pledged to match funds up to £1,000 for the challenge.  

The challenge took around nine hours to complete, due to one puncture and lots of people stopping to donate and ask about his bike – the Elliptigo, a specialist stand up bike with no seat which has a motion similar to a cross-trainer, one of around 300 in the UK. Throughout the trip, Alan proudly wore a St Ann’s t-shirt that attracted many supporters, some even stopping their cars to donate.  

Alan went on to say: “I wanted this to be a tough challenge and at the end I was absolutely shattered but the weather was incredibly good, which made the ride really enjoyable.”  

At the end of the challenge, Alan was welcomed by local bar in Gatley, Babita, who had helped with promoting his ride, enjoying pizza and drinks to celebrate.