Theme: Fundraising

St Ann’s Hospice, are looking ahead to one of their more picturesque fundraising challenges of the year, the Yorkshire Three Peaks! 

Taking place on Saturday, June 7, St Ann’s are calling on experienced hikers or simply those seeking a new challenge to help make a real difference. 

Those taking part are asked to raise vital funds for St Ann’s Hospice through sponsorship while preparing for the challenge. 

Picture yourself trekking through the stunning Yorkshire Dales, conquering the peaks of Pen-y-ghent (684m), Whernside (736m), and Ingleborough (723m), all while proudly wearing your #TeamStAnns gear. 

It’s called a challenge for a reason – but with the right training, and the motivation of walking for #TeamStAnns, anyone can smash it! 

Events Co-Ordinator for St Ann’s Hospice, Laura Hindley said the Yorkshire Three Peaks is an exciting day out for supporters of St Ann’s Hospice. 

Take on the peaks in honour of a loved one, to achieve a personal milestone, or simply support the care provided at St Ann’s Hospice. Every step you take helps us continue delivering essential support to patients and their families. 

The three peaks hike is a professionally guided tour with Qualified Mountain Leader(s) certified in mountain first aid. 

This challenge is over 24 miles (38.6km) round trip route including over 1500m (5,000 feet) of elevation.  

St Ann’s Hospice has set a sponsorship target of £250 and those taking part will receive fundraising support to achieve their goal from the team at St Ann’s. 

The walk starts at 7:00am on Saturday, June 7, meeting at Horton in Ribblesdale. 

There is a £30 registration fee to sign up – this covers the cost of the guides/tour and is non-refundable. To register or to learn more, please click here. 

St Ann’s has launched its latest active challenge, 100km in March to encourage the community to keep active while also raising much need funds for the hospice through sponsorship.  

The challenge encourages participants to “do 100km your way”, whether it be walk, run, swim, cycle or any physical activity you can achieve 100km in.  

Karen Pawlett has been a supporter of St Ann’s since her father was cared for by the hospice before he passed away. Karen took part in the 100km challenge in March last year and walked 315km over the course of the month, raising almost £600 through sponsorship and donations.  

“I’m a dog walker by trade so I was able to use this to my advantage. Of course, I ended up getting out more as a result of the challenge and meeting up with friends to walk at the weekends. By the end of the month my knees were killing me!” Karen said.  

Karen posted regular updates on her walking to the St Ann’s Hospice private Facebook page dedicated to the 100km in March challenge where the support and encouragement from other participants kept her going.  

“I just loved everything about it, it made me want to keep going, and seeing everyone else’s photos and their progress was great encouragement,” Karen said.  

“I’ll always support St Ann’s; my dad spent the last few days of his life at the Heald Green hospice in October 2023. The care my Dad received from the staff at St Ann’s was amazing and my family will be forever grateful for that.  That’s why I keep fundraising,” she added.  

If you are interested in taking part in this year’s 100km in March challenge, you can click here to sign up. All participants will receive a St Ann’s t-shirt and a tracker to log their progress.

A restaurant in Bramhall will be hosting a charitable Indian banquet dinner fundraiser in aid of St Ann’s Hospice. 

This is a collaboration between a St Ann’s supporter, the Heald Green Volunteer Fundraising Committee, and Bombay to Mumbai restaurant. 

The banquet dinner will take place at Bombay to Mumbai and will cost £30 per person. 

The event is to fundraise for the St Ann’s Hospice Build it Together appeal for the construction of a new hospice building in Heald Green. The appeal has now surpassed £1.5m of its £2m goal. 

The banquet dinner event will take place on March 4. Guests are advised to arrive at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. 

There will be an entertainment singer included in the price of the ticket. There will also be a raffle and an auction on the night. 

Community Fundraiser for St Ann’s Hospice, Julie Peters says the event will be a fantastic occasion. 

To purchase tickets please visit the St Ann’s Hospice website, here. 

Liam Saberton is running the Great Manchester Run in memory of his grandmother Sylvia and in an effort to raise funds for St Ann’s Hospice. 

This year St Ann’s is once again a charity partner for the Great Manchester Run and has a number of places for the 10k, half-marathon and marathon. 

Liam originally decided on running the marathon as he believes that setting himself goals helps with a better frame of mind. He hadn’t decided on running as part of #TeamStAnns until Sylvia was admitted to the hospice in November. 

He did not know that St Ann’s relies heavily on donations from the public to keep the doors open. 

“I was visiting one time shortly after she was admitted and as I was walking around I noticed in the reception there were all sorts of trinkets on sale and a donation box,” Liam said. 

Sylivia was admitted to St Ann’s in November. She was able to go home at the start of December but then she took a turn on Christmas Eve. 

“Fortunately St Ann’s were able to take her in. I was working on Christmas Eve. It got to about 3 o’clock that day and my dad said I needed to come see her. She wasn’t in the best of states. She was getting help and all sorts to make her more comfortable,” Liam said. 

“It was distressing to see her in that state. She got through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but she passed away on January 4. Due to the care she got in St Ann’s, if I could do my bit to hopefully help another family out I’d be quite happy,” he added. 

Liam is now training for the Great Manchester Run and has set up a Just Giving page where he has already raised over £600 for St Ann’s Hospice. Click the link above to visit the page. 

If you are interested in joining #TeamStAnns for the Great Manchester Run there are still places in the 10k run and a few places remaining for the half marathon. You can sign up by clicking here.  

Jennifer and Alan Bradbury who live locally to St Ann’s raised a sum of money for the hospice by placing a collection bucket next to their stunning Christmas light display. 

Jennifer said her husband Alan puts up Christmas lights every year and this year they decided to put all the lights out in an effort to raise funds for the hospice. 

The bucket raised approximately £130 for St Ann’s Hospice. 

“We didn’t expect very much coming in,” Jennifer said. 

One thing that surprised Jennifer and Alan was the children on their way to and from school who stopped by the lights and donated small sums of money. 

“The little bits of money that people were putting in kept adding up,” she added. 

The husband and wife duo decided to put up Christmas lights during the festive season over the Covid pandemic in an effort to cheer people up. 

“We had one lady crying at our doorstep because she thought it was so beautiful. So Alan has put the lights up every year. 

“We wanted to give the money to St Ann’s because of all the great work we know the hospice is doing for the community,” she added. 

The money raised by Jennifer and Alan will go towards the new St Ann’s Hospice building, currently under construction as part of the St Ann’s Build it Together appeal. 

Two St Ann’s supporters recently went ‘down under’ to take on a vertigo-inducing challenge to raise funds for the hospice. 

Ally Elliot and Jeff Bor climbed the over 1,300 steps of Sydney Harbour Bridge. The duo have already raised over £2,000 ahead of their climb, you can donate via their Just Giving page, here.

The climb took between three and three and a half hours, with the summit being 134m above sea level. 

“The idea to climb Sydney Harbour Bridge began as a fabulous adventure and a desire to challenge ourselves now that we’re getting on a bit,” Ally said. 

Ally’s father was cared for at St Ann’s Hospice during the final six weeks of his life almost 20 years ago. They have been supporters of St Ann’s ever since. 

“Following his death, my twin sister, Sue and I joined a local fundraising team to help raise money for numerous projects at the hospice such as refurbishing the pharmacy and the family rooms and purchasing an ambulance. After several years our team unfortunately disbanded,” Ally said. 

Click through the Flickr feed below to see some astonishing photos taken during and after Ally and Jeff’s Sydney Harbour Bridge climb.

“When I started as a volunteer in the fundraising office at the hospice in Cheadle just a few weeks ago it really inspired me to raise funds once again. It started to give our bridge climb a much deeper purpose than a personal challenge for us. Every step we take on the bridge will be a tribute to the incredible work being done in support of the new hospice,” she added. 

The money raised by Ally and Jeff will go towards the Build it Together appeal for the construction of the new St Ann’s Hospice building in Cheadle. So far almost £1.5m has been raised by the community as the hospice nears its £2m goal.

A Greater Manchester garden centre have smashed a walking challenge they set out for staff in an attempt to raise funds for St Ann’s Hospice. 

Notcutts Woodford Park Garden Centre in Stockport set their staff a challenge to reach 10 million steps within a month and have exceeded that goal by hitting 15 million steps.  

In doing so, the garden centre raised £2,100 for the Build it Together appeal at St Ann’s Hospice. 

The current hospice building in Heald Green is 150 years old and through the Build It Together appeal St Ann’s hope to raise the final £2 million needed to build a new hospice next door to the current building. 

Community Fundraiser for St Ann’s Hospice, Greg Kelly thanked Notcutts Woodford Park Garden Centre for their fundraising efforts. 

Kerry Speight of Notcutts also commented: 

“We wanted to do a charity event for our local community as St Ann’s is not far from the garden centre. We agreed it would be a great charity with the new build going ahead. We wanted to do something to help the patients and families. We were delighted with our outcome smashing the 10 million steps. We actually did over 15 million collectively throughout the garden centre. It is such a good cause,” Kerry said. 

So far the St Ann’s Hospice Build it Together appeal has raised over £1.4m out of the £2m target all thanks to community efforts such as the Notcutts steps challenge.