Fundraising Archives - Page 34 of 65

Volunteer Appeal for our shops in Cheadle and Edgeley

September 25, 2020 | 7:29am

Following the opening of many of our charity shops, we’re looking for local people to consider donating just a few hours of their time each week to help shop staff raise vital funds to support local patients.

We’ll be following government guidelines strictly to ensure every team member remains safe and offering training to help get our shops open to customers. All our tills will be shielded, and we’ll use floor markers to ensure two-meter distancing. In larger stores, we will also have a one-way system in place.

The hospice shops generate a large amount of income that helps our dedicated staff to continue to deliver outstanding care and support to patients and their loved ones.

By sparing a few hours each week, you can help provide a service to the local community whilst also raising much-needed funds for our hospice. If you’d like to volunteer for our hospice shops then click the link below.

he hospice’s ability to fundraise has been hugely impacted by the pandemic and our shops have now reopened and are doing really well as local hubs for people in the community to buy new or preloved goods in a safe environment.

However, now the shops are open again, we’re in real need of volunteers who can help our dedicated teams in a variety of ways. We’d love to hear from anyone who might be willing to help by giving a few hours of their time each week at any of our store locations – but particularly in Cheadle and Edgeley.

The role of a charity shop volunteer has really changed in recent years, and we see people of all ages who really benefit from the experience. We need help with everything from window displays and merchandising, to serving customers, organising stock, and lots more in between. There’s something to suit everyone’s needs, so please do get in touch if you might be able to help.

Amanda Brooks, Trading Company Manager

Among our shops that have opened is the specialist Cheadle Bridal shop and we’re looking for brides-to-be to view, try on and purchase dresses for their big day.

We’re taking bookings for either one hour or 1.5-hour slots over the coming months and will be open for fittings. Before and after every appointment, the shop will have a deep clean to ensure both staff and customers remain safe.

To book an appointment at the St Ann’s Bridal Boutique in Cheadle, please email cheadle@sah.org.uk or call the shop on 0161 428 5949.

Brides might be having to adapt their big day to meet the changes to lockdown rules, but it doesn’t mean they should compromise on their dress. We have put an appointment system in place so brides can come along and browse the range of amazing new and preloved dresses we have in our Cheadle shop at their leisure in a safe way. It’s a beautiful bridal room, with lots of original art deco features, and many of the dresses we have in stock are brand new or designer too.

We know many people have had to adapt their plans for their wedding day, and our team is here to help them to pick out the perfect outfit, however they are marking the occasion. It’s a real privilege to be involved in such a special day for so many brides, and we get people travelling to our shop from all over the north west and beyond.

Amanda Brooks, Trading Company Manager

Our hospice shops generate thousands of pounds worth of income every year for, which enables our charity to continue to provide care to our patients with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses.

Find out more about volunteering opportunities at St Ann’s Hospice’s shops

please click this link

Here!

Little Hulton News and Booze raises £10,000 for St Ann’s

September 8, 2020 | 8:02am

Newsagent Stan Taylor admits he is lucky to be alive after catching Covid-19. His family feared he would not reach his 60th birthday in June after he was seriously ill with the virus early in lockdown.

Stan, who runs Little Hulton News and Booze with his brother-in-law Mike Fisher, was put into an induced coma and spent a week on a ventilator.

Thankfully, he is now back at work part-time and was delighted to receive a letter from St Ann’s Hospice informing him the shop – known as Stan’s – has raised £10,000 for the charity.

The donations came from loyal customers who have been putting loose change into a collection box for several years.

Stan, who lives in Tyldesley, said:

I was very poorly and my wife Jane and our family were warned that I might not make it. Apparently, there were 38,000 likes for me on social media and the goodwill messages included one from Manchester United.

There was obviously a lot of love out there for me and fortunately, I managed to pull through. I still struggle to breathe and have fluid on my left lung but I’m much better.

My birthday bucket list was meant to include a visit to New York, but I’m just glad to be here and the illness has changed my perception on life.

Stan Taylor

The newsagents on Hulton Avenue is round the corner from our hospice site in Little Hulton and has been run by Mike and Stan for the last 20 years.

Mike, who is married to Stan’s sister Janet, said:

We both grew up around here so know what St Ann’s means to the community. We’ve thanked our customers for their generous donations on our Facebook page and to be honest, most of the money has come from schoolchildren who’ve been putting the odd bit of change in the box.

Mike Fisher

Chief Executive, Eamonn O’Neal said:

We can’t thank Stan, Mike and all of their amazing customers enough for their support – what a phenomenal amount raised for our patients.

We’re so pleased that Stan is starting to feel better and grateful that despite his own health and what he’s been through, that he still thinks about others in the local community like this is incredible.

Collection tins like the one in Little Hulton News and Booze make such a difference and the funds raised – however big or small – really do help us to continue providing care to the thousands of people we support every year. We’d love to hear from anyone who has an organisation or business where they think they could have a tin too, as we’re on the look-out for new locations for them, especially as many of our fundraising events and other activities have had to be postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic.

Eamonn O’Neal

To contact our hospice about raising money or having your own collection tin to support local patients, please call 0161 498 3631 or email fundraising@sah.org.uk.

Manchester Masons take on the Three Peaks Challenge for St Ann’s

September 8, 2020 | 7:50am

Climbing the Yorkshire Three Peaks was not the only challenge met by kind-hearted Freemasons during their adventure weekend. The 22-strong group also raised £7,000 for our hospice, easily exceeding their initial fundraising target of £2,500.

Members and friends of Manchester Level Club took 11 hours and 15 minutes to complete their 24-mile hike. The Level Club brings together junior brethren from different lodges at Manchester Hall on Bridge Street in the city to give members the opportunity to meet and socialise.

The Three Peaks event, including camping for two nights, was organised by chairman Darren Fletcher and Dean Lynch, members of Cornucopia Lodge.

Dean said:

St Ann’s Hospice has a history of providing care for our members so we were delighted to raise funds for this wonderful charity. St Ann’s must raise £20,000 a day to provide care for its patients so we’ll do anything we can to help. Manchester Masons have a proud tradition of fundraising for deserving charities like the hospice.

Dean Lynch

Chief Executive, Eamonn O’Neal said:

This is an amazing effort, and such a fabulous amount raised for the hospice. We can’t thank everyone involved enough. We’re always blown away by the support of the Freemasons and the Manchester Level Club has literally gone the extra mile – and more – in this latest challenge. On behalf of our patients and their families, thanks a million – we couldn’t continue to provide our specialist care without people like you.

Eamonn O’Neal

Manchester Level Club has continued activities online over recent months and were relieved to stage their first outdoor event since Covid-19.

Dean said:

The Manchester district of the Masons is stronger than ever with a lot of new and younger members and we’d welcome inquiries to join.

Dean Lynch

For more information visit manchestermasons.com

If you would like to host a challenge of your own for St Ann’s, whether that be a physical or virtual one, please click the link below.

Do it your own way

Find out how you can host your own fundraiser.

Click here

Mitch’s virtual London Marathon

August 18, 2020 | 10:53am

I started running for St Ann’s a few years ago. I was trying to get fit and signed up for the Manchester 10k. I wanted to do it for charity and a friend recommended St Ann’s. Since then, I’ve done 10ks, Tough Mudders, half marathons, marathons, and even climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. I also had the idea for the #Sixtyin60 challenge, to try and get 60 people to run the 2019 Manchester 10k in 60 minutes. In the end, around 140 people ran for St Ann’s!

Being part of #TeamStAnns and supporting St Ann’s has always been a privilege because of the service they provide. The staff and volunteers work tirelessly to support patients and families through some of their hardest times.

This year would have been the 40th Anniversary of the London Marathon and 5 years since I ran my first marathon. In 2015, I signed up to do the Manchester Marathon and was challenged by friends to sign up to the London Marathon too. When the dates were released, the marathons were only 1 week apart!

Five years later I thought, let’s do them both again. Unfortunately due to coronavirus, the London Marathon was postponed to October and is now virtual, so I’ll be running 26.2 miles on Sunday 4th October. Which means I’ll be running them one week apart, again! For me, this means redoing all the weeks of training, but I’ve never been defeated by a challenge.

I still wanted to run a marathon on the 26th April, the date of the London Marathon, so I completed my “Front Garden Marathon”. Keeping social distancing measures, my family joined me for the last few miles. My wife ran the last 5k, Harrison who’s 9 joined the last 3k and Taylor who’s 5 joined for the final 1k. You don’t get to do that at the London Marathon! To top it off, all my neighbours came out to cheer me on as I finished. It was a great feeling.

If you want to run in aid of St Ann’s Hospice, I’d recommend you do it. Nothing is stopping you!

Take on your own virtual London Marathon

Feeling inspired? You could join #TeamStAnns and run your own London Marathon from wherever you want on Sunday 4th October.

Employee Natalie is Running the Extra Mile for St Ann’s

August 13, 2020 | 12:30pm

Natalie Birmingham knows how it feels to lose close relatives at St Ann’s Hospice so is well placed to help others now that she works at the hospice.

Natalie saw for herself the care and compassion offered at the Little Hulton charity when her grandmother and uncle died there within a few months of each other.

Both Brenda Cook (72) and Andrew Seymour (52) had cancer, providing Natalie, from Astley, with the toughest time of her life five years ago.

A change of career saw her become a trainee assistant mental health practitioner at St Ann’s in January after working for Greater Manchester Police for 14 years.

Natalie‘s role involves offering psychological support, including bereavement help, for patients and families. She said:

It’s something I’ve been through myself, so I have an idea of what people are going through. We’re only a small family so to suffer two big losses in such a short space of time was hard. I was blown away by the care and support from St Ann’s and to lose my uncle so soon after my nan was heart-breaking. Eventually, it made me stronger and made me feel passionate about helping others through the journey I’ve been on. I love working here although Covid-19 has meant we had to provide counselling online and over the phone.

Natalie

Natalie is raising funds for St Ann’s by running 13.1 miles – the equivalent of the Great North Run. She said:

I’m not much of a runner so it’s quite a challenge for me but it’s for a great cause.

Natalie

To sponsor Natalie visit justgiving.com/fundraising/natalie-birmingham.

Braving the Shave for St Ann’s

August 13, 2020 | 7:44am

St Ann’s supporter, Susan Wilkinson, made the daring decision to shave her head for the hospice after her Auntie Sue who is from Swinton, was cared for by our outstanding team.

On Tuesday 7th July Susan headed to the salon to shave all her hair off, which has raised over £1,200, beating her target of £500.

Susan decided she wanted to support St Ann’s after seeing how our staff treated her Auntie, who is in the final stage of COPD, during her stay. Whilst there, Susan found comfort in our Being You Centre and having a creative outlet that she could share with her Auntie. She would attend two times a week and saw a development in her skills with the help of our Being You staff and even made a silk scarf at the Centre.

Our Being You Centre is a special place for patients and carers that is a warm and friendly place full of people who are committed to giving you the best care and support possible, whatever that means for you. We provide a range of services, including relaxation therapy, counselling, creative therapy and spiritual support, among many more services. You can read more about our Being You Centre here.

When Susan’s Auntie was first offered respite at St Ann’s her family was hesitant and uncertain, but within a day she looked like a different person, she said:

The first day I went to visit her I was in awe, she was sat eating a prawn salad with a glass of wine, waiting for her ice cream dessert, she looked like a different person.

Originally Susan had decided to do a sponsored slim for our hospice, but due to the current climate, she had to make alternative plans, setting up a brave the shave fundraiser with a pledge to do so once the hairdressers opened up.

I was motivated to do this after seeing my Aunties attitude grow more positively during her stay. I was shocked that it wasn’t government funded, and I really wanted to raise funds for the staff that are always on hand to care and support patients and families.

Susan’s Auntie spent three months at St Ann’s before being able to return to her home, Susan went on to say:

From the time my Auntie was in the hospice she became more and more like her old self every day and the transformation in her health was amazing. I firmly believe that my precious Auntie would not be with us now if this charity had not supported her and her family.

To sponsor Susan, please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/brave-shaver

Mr Motivator Workouts for St Ann’s

July 15, 2020 | 10:36am

Fitness guru Mr Motivator will be hitting our screens this July, with some exclusive workouts in aid of St Ann’s Hospice – including a special accessible session which gives participants the opportunity to exercise completely from their armchair.

The lycra-clad legend has created two special half-hour online workout sessions – Body Blitz, an all-round general exercise class for anyone of any age and ability, and The Chair Session, which is accessible to all and allows the working of the whole body from the comfort of a chair.

This year has been really difficult, especially for charities like St Ann’s, but what’s been amazing to see is the number of people embracing exercise time – whatever that might mean for them. People have been taking their daily walk, or joining classes online, and are really seeing the benefit of getting themselves moving, not just on their body, but just as importantly on their mind as well.

I approached St Ann’s Hospice as I have helped them out in the past running warm up sessions for the thousands of people who take part in their Manchester Midnight Walk. As the event couldn’t take place this year, I knew that they’d be missing out on vital funds so what better way to raise money than to create a few exclusive workouts that are good for you, and also raise money for the hospice patients as well?

Mr Motivator

The Body Blitz workout will be a general session that anyone can join in with, whether they are used to exercise or new to it, and all people need to join in is a couple of cans or bottles and some water. It’ll be fun and have some great music, and most importantly great energy to get people motivated for the weekend ahead.

We also wanted to create an alternative accessible workout that people can do from their chair as well, as some of the patients at the hospice also want to join in with those. The Chair Session will do just that, so anyone of any ability can take part in the exercise class with a difference, with safe, effective movements that start at the top of the body and work through all of the muscles in turn. I’d love as many people as possible to join us – say yeah!

Mr Motivator

Tickets for the classes are just £5 each, and the sessions will be carried out via Zoom on 25th and 26th July at 10am in the morning.

Money raised will help to raise vital funds that enables our teams to continue caring for patients and their loved ones, following what has been a really challenging time for our hospice.

Eamonn O’Neal, Chief Executive of St Ann’s, said:

I’m so incredibly proud of the way the hospice teams have coped with being on the front line throughout this crisis, enabling patients and their loved ones to continue receiving access to the vital palliative and end of life care hospices provide. As a charity, we need to fundraise £20,000 a day to keep our services going, and at the moment we’re caring for more people than ever as we reach out into communities and support NHS colleagues too.

We can only do that thanks to our amazing supporters and we can’t thank Mr Motivator enough for his kind offer to raise money and provide fun events for people to take part in with these workouts. We’re all looking to taking part in the exercises – lycra is not mandatory thankfully

Eamonn O’Neal, Chief Executive of St Ann’s

The workouts have been sponsored by JP & Brimelow estate agency, an organisation who have supported the hospice over many years, raising thousands of pounds for local patients and their families.

Eddie Ellis and the team at JP & Brimelow are so generous in their support of St Ann’s and their kindness and energy in everything they do to help us out year on year is incredible. We can’t thank them enough for being part of this initiative as our sponsor. It’s really appreciated.

Eamonn O’Neal, Chief Executive of St Ann’s

To sign up to join one, or both, of the exclusive workouts, please visit www.sah.org.uk/events/mr-motivator-workouts or call the team on 0161 498 3631.

Sign-up to the Mr Motivator Live Workouts

Sign-up Today

St Ann’s Summer Fair Takeover

July 15, 2020 | 10:21am

Lockdown brought with it a range of innovative and virtual activities and we’re taking it one step further by taking our popular fundraising Summer Fair entirely online.

The Summer Fair, which has been a highlight of St Ann’s fundraising calendar for decades, sees hundreds of people visiting hospice sites to take part in activities, watch entertainment, join in with raffles and tombolas, and grab a bargain or two.

But, this year we have had to think a bit differently about how to safely deliver a Summer Fair experience in the current circumstances, and have come up with an online Takeover on their Facebook channel which will include a wide range of activities for people to take part in.

Eamonn O’Neal, Chief Executive of St Ann’s, explained:

From the start of the year, we regularly get messages from people asking what date our Summer Fairs will be held, and they really are tremendously popular. This year we knew we had to think differently about how to deliver them safely, and we hope people will enjoy what we have planned.

There’ll be entertainers performing on our Facebook page, along with raffles, virtual events and activities, and traditional fair stalls will also be taken online – for example you can watch a video and guess how many sweets are in the jar to win a prize, or enjoy seeing Directors from the hospice pelted with wet sponges by our (usually) friendly mascot Stan.

Eamonn O’Neal , Chief Executive of St Ann’s

We’re hoping lots of people will drop in on the day to take part on our Facebook page and show their support by joining in the raffles or activities, or making a donation. It’s been a really difficult time for the hospice, as it has for everyone, and our nurses and doctors have been working incredibly hard on the front line, providing care for more patients than they have ever before. It’s vital we can continue raising funds for that care to continue, and we’re so thankful to everyone who has supported us in recent months. We can’t thank you enough, and we hope you enjoy all the fun of our fair.

Eamonn O’Neal

The Summer Fair Takeover will be held on the St Ann’s Hospice Facebook page from 10am to 3pm on Sunday 19th July.

Raffle prizes will include a signed Anthony Martial Manchester United T-Shirt, Hotel Chocolat Velvetier worth more than £100, a Body Shop hamper, fully stocked picnic basket, sweet hampers, plus many more prizes.

Local people will also be hosting stalls and holding raffles of their own in their local communities, to help increase the amount raised from the fair. The hospice fundraising team can help with items to raffle so anyone interested in running activities as part of the virtual event should contact the team on events@sah.org.uk or call 0161 498 3631.

The hospice’s Heald Green charity shop will also be open on the Sunday from 11am until 3pm with a large range of items on sale as part of the Summer Fair Takeover.

For more information, please visit www.sah.org.uk/events or call 0161 498 3631.

Sign-up to our Summer Fair

Enjoy a day of fun activities from the comfort of your home!