Theme: Fundraising

Long-time volunteer Nicola Done-Orrell has overcome her fears by conducting four “terrifying” open-water swims, raising over £11,000 for St Ann’s Hospice.

The swimmer, who is the daughter of BetFred founder Fred Done, “put herself through the paces” when she swam relay swims around Jersey Island and across the English Channel. She also conducted two solo swims, one at Lake Windermere and the other at Ullswater also in the Lake District.

According to Nicola, each open water swim came with its own mental and physical challenge but says her relay swim across the English Channel was a standout.

“It’s terrifying because you’ve got to swim with jellyfish. In my first hour, I was stung but you’ve got to get back in the water because you are part of a team and if you don’t you’ll all be disqualified,” Nicola said.

“It was cold, it was only 14 degrees, so that also added to the struggle of getting back into the water.”

Nicola and her team swam the English Channel in 12 hours and 18 minutes.

Nicola says that swimming the length of Lake Windermere was also challenging as it was the longest solo swim she has done.

A number of years ago, Nicola began open-water swimming as her friend was training for a triathlon and said she would help her train. According to the long-time St Ann’s volunteer, it was then that she caught the open-water “swimming bug”.

“When I first got in the water with my friend, I thought I’d just be helping her train and that would be it, I’d be done, I had no intention of ever doing it again. When I got in the water, I just absolutely loved it,” she said.

Nicola has also previously raised over £6,000 for the hospice following her first open-water swim at Coniston Lake in the Lake District in 2022.

Now that she has swum the length of Ullswater, Coniston, and Windermere, the open-water swimmer has completed the coveted ‘Lake District Triple Crown’.

Nicola also volunteers at the hospice’s Little Hulton site and says the reason she does so much for St Ann’s is because “you never know what’s around the corner”.

“You never know when you might need it, or your family might need it, or your friends might need it.  It’s so important to have the hospice for the community. It’s a fantastic organisation,” she said.

Nicola may have completed five open-water swims but that does not mean she is ready to stop. She intends on conducting a solo swim from Jersey Island to France next year in a 14-mile, solo open-water swim.

Dancing queens and kings said “lets groove” as a Manchester charity disco raised over £18,000 for St Ann’s Hospice in Greater Manchester.

The AK-OK 80s Rewind Charity Disco was organised by a group of friends including long-time Old Trafford stadium announcer, Alan Keegan.

Alan, also known as the ‘Voice of Old Trafford’ along with four friends, Mark Buckley, Mike Griffin, Liam Dennehy, and John Griffin decided to host the fundraiser as St Ann’s Hospice is very close to their hearts.

“The event was very successful, we were extremely pleased with the amount of people that turned up,” Alan said following the event.

“We had six DJs as well who all gave their time all in aid of St Ann’s Hospice,” he added.

Head of Fundraising at St Ann’s Hospice, Anne-Marie Wynne said the fundraiser was a “fantastic night”.

Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester’s Total Sport at 6pm ahead of the event, Alan said that St Ann’s is a “brilliant organisation”.

“…Mike Griffin, John Griffin, obviously, two brothers, Liam Dennehy, and Mark Buckley, we’re all involved in it and we’ve all been sort of involved with St Ann’s in one way or another. Sadly, two of my colleagues who were running the event with, their wives were looked after by St Ann’s and passed away there,” Alan said.

“I’ve done lots of work with them through their midnight walk, etc. It’s just a brilliant organisation, it’s based in South Manchester, they’ve got a new building being built as well as we speak, it’s looking fantastic.

“Get in touch with them, they’ve got donation pages etcetera… It’s based in the north, it’s here and we want to support it,” he added.

The AK-OK 80s Rewind Charity Disco was held at Stockport County FC on Friday, September 13. Alan, Mark, Mike, Liam, and John are now pushing to reach their fundraising goal of £20,000.

Alan and his friends have created a Just Giving page to help them achieve their £20,000 goal and any donations are greatly appreciated.

A Greater Manchester community centre is bringing forward some Christmas cheer in September. 

Bideford Community Centre in Baguley, Wythenshawe have raised a total of £14,000 in three years for St Ann’s Hospice largely due to some early festive spirit. 

Christine McDonagh from Bideford Community Centre has said that every penny “put in their hands” in September will be given to St Ann’s. 

St Ann’s Hospice is very close to the hearts of those at Bideford Community Centre as the former centre volunteer, Robbie who had lung cancer was moved to the hospice in his last few days. Robbie’s daughter Kirsty Taylor is the Bideford Community Centre Co-ordinator. 

Christine’s mother was also treated at the hospice. 

“The care that they got was wonderful, that we were able to be with them. When Robbie was in there, we brought in a Christmas tree, as it was near Christmas and we could spend 24 hours with him, whereas in a hospital, obviously, it’s different,” Christine said. 

“We were just really impressed with the care that he got,” she added. 

Speaking about Bideford Community Centre’s donation, Innovation and Digital Fundraiser for St Ann’s Hospice, Marie Foster said: “A massive thank you to Christine and all at the Bideford Community Centre for all the work they do to fundraise for St Ann’s Hospice. We are so grateful for their continued support. They have raised a fantastic £14,000 and continue to fundraise and raise awareness about the work that we do at St Ann’s.”

Funds this year will be made through Bideford Community Centre’s charity shop, serving breakfast in the community centre’s café, through supermarket collections and much more. 

“The Bideford team including our co-ordinator Kirsty work tirelessly and around the clock to make our events possible,” Christine said. 

The Bideford Community Centre will be raising funds for St Ann’s Hospice until the end of September.  

The Bideford Community Centre is based in Baguley, Wythenshawe and the services they offer include a local food bank, clothing bank, charity shop, computer courses, and a community café. 

St Ann’s Hospice has two sites based in Greater Manchester, one in Heald Green and one in Little Hulton. Both sites provide specialist care for people impacted by life-limiting illness, including patients, families and loved ones. 

Pundits and ex-footballers Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, Jill Scott and Ian Wright will take to the stage at Aviva Studios, the home of Factory International in Manchester on Thursday 28th November for a night no sports fans will want to miss. 

The exclusive live show is to raise money for St Ann’s Hospice’s Build it Together appeal. The appeal is to build a new hospice in Heald Green for the people of Greater Manchester. 

The Overlap team – widely regarded as TV’s top pundits – will lift the lid on their celebrated playing careers as well as delve deep into today’s hottest sporting issues and fielding questions from the audience. Expect insightful opinion, glorious banter, hysterical tales… and, yes, more than the odd heated exchange as these old adversaries go head-to-head!

Since launching in April 2021, Gary Neville’s The Overlap has topped an astonishing 64 million views, one billion impressions and now boasts 473,000 subscribers. 

The hospice is raising money to build a new purpose-built hospice to replace the current Victorian building. St Ann’s new hospice will be a complete care facility in Greater Manchester that local people can access, from diagnosis of a life-limiting illness to treatment and beyond. It will be located on land next door to the current Heald Green hospice on St Ann’s Road North.  

The new building will house a 27-bed inpatient unit including individual en-suite rooms and access to private outdoor terraces. The development will also feature modern outpatient and day therapy services, dedicated bereavement and family support spaces, all surrounded by beautiful, landscaped gardens.  

Gary Neville said: “As soon as we heard about the Build it Together campaign we wanted to do everything we could to support St Ann’s Hospice and their fundraising.  

“Being able to bring The Overlap to the event is going to be brilliant and I can’t wait to get Jamie, Ian, Jill and Roy on stage for this incredible cause.”  

Tickets cost £60 and are available to book at https://factoryinternational.org/whats-on/the-overlap-live-in-aid-of-st-anns-hospice/

What’s stopping you from taking on a lifechanging trek across the globe in aid of St Ann’s Hospice?

We’re proud to be partnering with charity challenge organiser Global Adventure Challenges to offer three amazing treks in 2025, all in aid of our Build it Together new hospice appeal.

The Sahara Desert trek, Great Wall of China trek and Camino de Santiago trek will see people of a range of ages and abilities come together to push their boundaries and raise funds for a fantastic local cause.

Anyone interested in taking part is invited to an information evening on Wednesday 2^nd October, where they can find out more about the events.

Judy Baigent, Charity Account Officer at Global Adventure Challenges said: “I can’t recommend taking on a trek highly enough. My first challenge was the Sahara Desert Trek 10 years ago, which fuelled my passion to take part in more challenges!”

Challenge events are a fantastic way to raise funds for a cause close to your heart, and by leaving your comfort zone and taking part in a trek, you can make such a difference to the patients and their families at St Ann’s.

Participants are welcome to take part in the challenge events as an individual or as part of a group – the one thing everyone will have in common is the desire to push themselves in support of St Ann’s Hospice.

For each trek there are two payment options – a fundraising option which allows you to fund your place by raising a minimum amount of sponsorship, or a self-funding option which allows you to pay for your place yourself and fundraise separately with no minimum amount required. All money raised from these treks will help to build a new hospice in Heald Green that will provide specialist care and loving support to people in Greater Manchester, for generations to come.

Whichever option you choose you’ll receive plenty of support, including pre and post-event meet ups, group chats with fellow trekkers, a fundraising pack and much more.

The information evening takes place on Wednesday 2^nd October at 6.30pm at the St Ann’s Hospice, St Ann’s Road North, Heald Green, SK8 3SZ.

Please confirm your attendance by filling out the form here or contacting the Events Team on events@sah.org.uk or 0161 498 3631. If you can’t attend the information evening, you can find out more about the treks by clicking here.

The new Ceremonial Mayor of Salford, Councillor Tanya Burch, has chosen St Ann’s Hospice as one of the charities she will support whilst she’s in office, along with the Royal Naval Association (Pendleton).

We’re delighted to welcome Cllr Tanya into our community of supporters in Salford. St Ann’s was also selected by the previous Ceremonial Mayor of Salford, Councillor Gina Reynolds, for her 2023-24 term.

Cllr Tanya says: “I attended one of St Ann’s events last year at their Little Hulton site and I was so impressed. I had never been to a hospice before then, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. However as soon as I entered the car park I was greeted with such warmth by staff who were so caring. I had such a lovely experience meeting patients on the ward where there is so much joy, happiness and optimism.”

Cllr Tanya attended and officially opened the Summer Fair in Little Hulton, where she took part in the fun of the day and spoke to patients to hear about how important St Ann’s services are to those in the community.

When Cllr Tanya was asked about fundraising she plans to undertake, she said: “I am taking on a skydive on 31^st August to raise money for both of my chosen charities. I have never jumped out of a plane before so I’m getting more excited as the day nears.”

The previous Ceremonial Mayor of Salford, Cllr Gina, raised an amazing £44,425.14 for her chosen charities. This included £14,808.38 for the hospice, which is a cause close to her heart.

When speaking about why she chose St Ann’s, Cllr Gina said: “This wonderful charity is very personal to me. Sadly, both my mum and auntie passed away peacefully at St Ann’s Hospice.

“They received excellent end-of-life care and I was provided with fantastic support from the caring staff. I can’t thank them enough and wanted to give something back.”

Lucy continued: “It’s also wonderful to work with so many amazing people involved with the mayor’s charity committee. They truly do wonderful work every year to support the local people of Salford, and we are so excited to be part of the journey again.

“It was an absolute privilege to work with Cllr Gina Reynolds, her Consort and the wider committee. The work Gina puts into her local community and the passion she has for the people of Salford is incredible.

“We cannot thank Cllr Gina and Cllr Tanya enough for all the support they have given to St Ann’s Hospice.”

To support Cllr Tanya with her skydive, please see her fundraising page here.