Theme: Fundraising

With Christmas only around the corner, the Fundraising Team at St Ann’s Hospice are preparing for the upcoming Festive Fitness Bingo challenge which launches in December.

The festive fitness bingo challenge will encourage participants to conduct a range of fitness challenges over a 12-day period.

As the days are getting colder, and the nights are getting longer, those taking part in the fitness bingo will be able to conduct all exercises indoors. Once you have completed the challenge, mark it on your bingo card supplied by St Ann’s.

The challenge starts on December 1 and runs until December 12.

Join lots of other St Ann’s supporters in our private Facebook group and follow the instructions to register for the challenge.

Once registered, St Ann’s will send participants a “12 Days of Festive Fitness” bingo card and a free St Ann’s Hospice Santa hat to wear throughout the challenge.

Complete your daily exercise challenge and join the festive fun by sharing your progress in the Facebook group.

If you are not on Facebook you can still register by visiting www.sah.org.uk/events/12-days-of-festive-fitness-bingo.

Ask your friends, family, colleagues and neighbours to sponsor you throughout the challenge to raise funds for St Ann’s.

Innovation and Digital Fundraiser for St Ann’s Hospice, Marie Foster said the Festive Fitness Bingo Challenge follows the success of St Ann’s Walk 100 Miles in September challenge which raised over £18,000 for the hospice.

“We’re hoping that this indoor fitness challenge will give our supporters something new and help them take some time in their day for mindful movement while helping to raise money for St Ann’s in the run-up to the busy festive season.”

“Challenges like these make all the difference to St Ann’s. I cannot wait to see how our supporters and fundraisers who take part in the challenge get on,” Marie added.

Staff and volunteers here at St Ann’s Hospice have taken time away from their busy days to strut their stuff at this year’s John Lewis Fashion Show.

The Fundraising Team at St Ann’s Hospice organised the Fashion Show along with help from our gracious hosts, John Lewis, Cheadle, with all proceeds going towards our Build it Together Appeal. 

St Ann’s Hospice Build it Together is an appeal to raise much-needed funds for the delivery of a new hospice site based in Heald Green. 

The runway played host to staff and volunteers from different departments throughout the hospice, from kitchen staff, fundraising staff, the Rehab Team and even a few local children showed off their best style. 

Community Fundraiser for St Ann’s Hospice, Julie Peters said the fashion show was once again a “brilliant success” 

So far, St Ann’s Hospice, with the help of supporters, volunteers and the local community in Greater Manchester have raised almost £1,400,000 out of £2,000,000 for the Build it Together Appeal. The hospice is making a big push to raise the final £600,000 to oversee the continued construction of the new building.   

A lifelong Stockport County FC supporter has been raising much needed funds for St Ann’s Hospice by carrying around a life-size cardboard cut-out of one of the club’s star players.

Lee Rowley, has raised over £1,200 for St Ann’s with cardboard cut-outs over the space of two years.

St Ann’s is a charity very close to Lee’s heart as his mum, Tina, was cared for in the hospice at the end of last year, before she died.

“My mum was in and out of St Ann’s for about two years for pain management when she wasn’t well,” Lee said.

“She entered St Ann’s for the last time shortly before the end. St Ann’s just looked after all of us so much. I couldn’t speak highly enough of them. In the last few days, staff would come up to me at one in the morning and ask if I wanted a brew. It’s small things like that, that make the world of difference,” he added. 

Following Tina’s passing, Lee noticed his son, Kieron was still down from the passing of his grandmother and decided to do something a “bit daft” when he had a cardboard cut-out of the Stockport County FC manager Dave Challinor made. 

The two would take the cut-out around with them to Stockport matches and to the pub and jokingly pretend it was a real person. 

“It was a great conversation starter,” Lee said. “Everywhere we went people wanted to talk to us about it. 

“We got it signed by the team and decided to auction it off at the end of the season and sold it for £1,000. All the money went to St Ann’s,” he added. 

Due to the success of the initial cut-out, Lee decided to get another one of Stockport’s star strikers, Tanto Olaofe made. This time, however, Lee has included a QR code which links directly to a donation page for St Ann’s. 

“We were at an away game in Barnsley recently and even their supporters were donating via the link to St Ann’s. It was brilliant to see. 

“I would also like to thank Paul Lavin for his involvement,” he added 

Due to English weather, it can become difficult to maintain the upkeep of the cardboard cut-out when attending games, so Lee is in the process of trying to future-proof the cardboard cut-out. 

Once that is done, the plan at the end of the season is to once again get it signed by the team and auction off the cut-out with all proceeds going towards St Ann’s Hospice. 

The Greater Manchester charity is looking for volunteers to take part in the 2025 Tour de Manc on behalf of the hospice, with a special St Ann’s discount available.

This is the fourth year St Ann’s Hospice is set to be a charity partner for the Greater Manchester cycling event.

St Ann’s Hospice is currently running its Build it Together appeal for the creation of a new hospice building in Heald Green, Stockport, replacing the current site there which has been in operation for over 50 years. St Ann’s also has a more modern hospice in Little Hulton, Salford.

The campaign has raised over £1,300,000 of the remaining £2,000,000 target. A big push is needed to raise the remaining £700,000 as the new build is already under construction.

Why not take in the sights of Greater Manchester and enjoy the fantastic, welcoming atmosphere at this Manchester cycling sportive, all while fundraising to make the new hospice a reality for patients?

Over the previous four years, the event has raised approximately £15,000 for St Ann’s each year. This money is raised through sponsorship from people taking part on behalf of St Ann’s and the hospice receives a lumpsum from Tour de Manc later in the year due to being a charity partner.

Capital Partnership Fundraiser for St Ann’s Hospice, Liz Greenwood believes the event is a great opportunity to raise some much-needed funds for St Ann’s through sponsorship.

Tour De Manc takes place on Sunday, May 4, 2025. Registration is now open. There are four distances to compete in so there is something for every cyclist.

The four distances are the Northern Quarter – 60km/37 miles, the Manc Challenge – 100km/62 miles, the Classic Manc – 165km/103 miles, and the Mad Manc – 201km/125 miles.

Cyclists who sign up through St Ann’s will receive a special discount, with £5 off Tour de Manc prices and an early bird rate available until October 31. More information and the registration form can be found here.

Have you got what it takes to be a trivia titan? Why not try your luck at the upcoming Quizmasters event hosted by the Heald Green Volunteer Fundraising Committee on behalf of St Ann’s Hospice!

The event which will be held on Friday, November 15, sees teams of any size take on a variety of categories from general knowledge to celebrity knowledge in a fun evening of quizzes.

All proceeds from the event will go towards the St Ann’s Hospice Build It Together appeal for the creation of St Ann’s new hospice building in Heald Green.

The campaign has raised over £1,300,000 of the remaining £2,000,000 target. A big push is needed to raise the remaining £700,000 as the new build is already under construction.

Chairperson of the Heald Green Volunteer Fundraising Committee, Lynn Partridge says the event will be an entertaining evening for all to enjoy.

“We look forward to seeing everyone at Heald Green Social Club on the night for what is sure to be a brilliant evening of fun and most importantly quizzing!” Lynn said.

“On behalf of the Heald Green Volunteer Fundraising Committee, I would like to encourage one and all, even those who don’t believe they would be good at quizzing to come along on the night. After all, all proceeds go towards a great cause,” she added.

Doors for the St Ann’s Hospice Quizmasters will open at 7pm at the Heald Green Social Club, SK8 3DQ with the quiz starting at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £15 per person and include a hot pot supper (vegetarian option available).

Tickets can be purchased through the St Ann’s Hospice website.

A local ladies’ fellowship group have raised over £1,600 for St Ann’s Hospice in what has been described as an unexpected but “fitting” tribute to one of their past members. 

Hazel Grove Methodist Church Ladies Fellowship picked St Ann’s as their charity this year, raising the sum through raffles, collection boxes, and hosting a charity afternoon. 

A long-time member of the Hazel Grove Methodist Church Ladies Fellowship, Muriel Gray was a previous inpatient at St Ann’s Hospice before she passed away earlier this year. 

One of the main organisers behind the fundraiser, Christine Aspin, said the group raised the money for the Hospice as St Ann’s is currently building a new site. 

Hazel Grove Methodist Church Ladies Fellowship meet every fortnight between September and May and hosts talks on a wide variety of topics followed by tea and biscuits, all held in the Hazel Grove Methodist Church. 

St Ann’s was Hazel Grove Methodist Church Ladies Fellowship’s chosen charity for the 2023/24 season. The new 2024/25 season sees the group which has been running for over 60 years raise money for the Alzheimer and Dementia Society. 

Christine says that “friends old and new” are welcome to attend the fellowship events. 

Community Fundraiser for St Ann’s Hospice, Greg Kelly thanks the ladies’ fellowship group for their “thoughtful donation”. 

“Former member of the fellowship, Muriel was recently an inpatient at the hospice, where she was cared for. This shows just how important hospice care is in the community.  We cannot thank them enough for their support and I am also glad that we were there for Muriel when she needed us the most.” Greg added. 

Construction for St Ann’s Hospice’s new Heald Green site is well underway, raising over £1,300,000 of the £2,000,000 target. St Ann’s are now pushing for the final £700,000 for the completion of the new build. In the latest construction update, the installation of the steel structure of the new hospice got underway and the building is starting to take shape. All donations towards the completion of the build are greatly appreciated.