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Theme: News story

Sandra’s Lottery win

March 28, 2019 | 12:04pm

One of our shop volunteers, Sandra, has been playing the lottery since it started in 1994. Then a couple of years ago, Sandra and her husband won the top prize of £2,000! They used their winnings on a river cruise from Prague to Budapest and had a great time. Sandra volunteers at our Romiley shop and has done now for 11 years now.


I really love volunteering for St Ann’s and working with everyone at the shop.


Sandra and her husband still carry on playing the lottery and hopefully will have a big win again sometime soon!

You can sign up now and play the St Ann’s Hospice lottery from as little as £1 a week.

 

 

To play our Lottery

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Nurse Kelly takes part in final marathon for patients

March 28, 2019 | 10:28am

Kelly has already completed the race twice despite arthritic knees and is preparing to go through the pain barrier again on Sunday, April 28.

She is Ward Manager here which has provided her with the motivation to take part and she is hoping to raise £20,000 for St Ann’s along with other members of the team.

The Romiley mum lost eight stone after realising that as a nurse she needed to show her patients the benefits of a healthier lifestyle.

However, her long-distance running days are numbered because she has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a genetic condition affecting her joints.

Kelly wore her nurse’s uniform in last year’s event, run in the hottest temperatures on record and raising £8,500 in the process.

Husband Marc Foster, a neighbourhood police sergeant, is part of the St Ann’s team along with Amanda Connors, Day Therapy Sister at the Heald Green site.


This has got to be my last marathon and I’m not certain to finish but I want to run for our patients. It costs £20,000 a day to run St Ann’s Hospice so that’s our ambitious target.


Kelly Foster, Ward Manager


I haven’t got a competitive bone in my body and this will be my first and last marathon. It’s always been on my bucket list to do the London Marathon and it’ll be good to all run together for the hospice.


Amanda Connors, Day Therapy Sister

Fellow team member Mark Hayes, from Great Moor, will be tackling his first marathon after taking up running four years ago. Mark works for Vodafone who are supporting his fundraising efforts with their match funding scheme.

* To sponsor Kelly go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kelly-foster21 and for the other fundraising pages go to https://www.justgiving.com/companyteams/TeamStAnns

Any runners who want to raise funds for St Ann’s, email events@sah.org.uk or call the team on 0161 498 3631.

‘Awelonites’ all set for the Manchester Midnight Walk!

March 21, 2019 | 3:49pm

The team from across the North West has signed up to take part in this year’s Manchester Midnight Walk to raise money for St Ann’s.

Jackie Oldham, leader of the team ‘Awelonites’, is also Chair of the hospice.  She explained:


The Manchester Midnight Walk is such an iconic event in the city’s annual calendar and even before I was involved with the hospice I was aware of how important it was in raising money for local patients.
Our team is made up of walkers aged between 25 and 65. We usually enjoy heading into the Welsh countryside to walk together and relax, but we’ve decided to put our walking boots to use in aid of a good cause and take part in the Midnight Walk this year.
As volunteer Chair of the hospice’s board I’m privileged to see first-hand the amazing, holistic care provided to local people, right when they need it most. St Ann’s needs to raise £20,000 a day to keep that specialist care provision going for patients and their families, and I know that every penny raised in our sponsorship for the 10km walk will make a real difference to their lives.



Jackie Oldham, Chair of St Ann’s

Jackie Oldham

The Manchester Midnight Walk, which will take place on Friday 26th April, has become a staple on the city’s fundraising calendar, with last year’s event raising £163,795.09 for St Ann’s, bringing the total raised since its launch to more than £2million.

The event has pulled in the crowds every year since it began in 2007, creating a unique late-night party atmosphere. Manchester Cathedral have supported the event, along with headline sponsor BetFred.

The walk leaves Manchester Central at midnight, with music and entertainment on the event stage starting at 9pm. The 10km route covers landmarks such as Manchester Cathedral, St Ann’s Square and Spinningfields. Many fundraisers walk in memory of loved ones, with others happy to join the fun at this family event.

To sponsor Jackie’s team, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/awelonites

 

Register for the Manchester Midnight Walk

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Blood Bikes Manchester

March 21, 2019 | 3:39pm

Volunteers from Blood Bikes Manchester have made an average of three trips a week to hospice sites at Little Hulton and Heald Green.

The bikers have visited hospitals and health care centres in Greater Manchester for six years since their charity was set up by self-employed printer Paul Redfern.

Paul, from Hyde, has never lost his love for bikes despite losing a leg when his motorcycle was struck by a car in 1988 when he was 18.

He runs Blood Bikes Manchester which transports blood, plasma, platelets, vaccines, samples, donor breast milk and other items during ‘out-of-hours.’


We’re delighted to help St Ann’s Hospice and our service is provided free of charge by our 49 amazing volunteers. We’ve carried out 650 jobs for the hospice showing the value of our service.
Our riders are fully trained in handling blood products and controlled medication while test results usually need to be obtained quickly.
Often it’s not a simple matter of popping in. We may have to collect a prescription, take it to a hospital pharmacy and return with medication.

We’ve been recognised by the government as an emergency service and we alleviate high night-time costs of couriers and taxis. We estimate we’ve saved the NHS and hospices £341,350 in six years.
Our services is getting busier by the day and we’ve seen a massive spike in requests.



Paul Redfern


We’re enormously grateful for the support of the Blood Bikes team. Their volunteers provide an amazing service and we’d like to thank each and every one of them for their support.


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

Blood Bikes Manchester is part of a nationwide association and recently added North West Air Ambulance to its list of clients. The charity has to raise £35,000 a year to cover fuel, insurance and other costs.

To find out more about Blood Bikes Manchester go to www.bbmcr.org

Day Care patient has a ‘wheelie’ good day out!

March 20, 2019 | 11:39am

Sylvia, 74, has been attending St Ann’s Hospice in Heald Green as a Day Therapy patient. After she told the team that she’d love to ride a bike again, they set about making it happen!

One of the hospice volunteers, Nicola, took Sylvia to Wythenshawe Park where non-profit organisation Wythenshawe Wheelers run regular inclusive cycling sessions with several types of bikes for people with different abilities.

Sylvia is unable to talk, and she communicates by writing things down.

 


It was definitely a fun morning! I felt happy and energised, and it stopped me from focusing on my problems. I used to ride a bike before I was ill, but now I can’t balance on a two-wheeler. I tried four different bikes and I liked the Pashley, but there was also a trendy, laid back one too! I’ve very much enjoyed coming to day care at St Ann’s, all the staff are wonderful. My every need has been met, and I didn’t imagine being taken for a bike ride!


Sylvia Clayton


We always like to help our patients achieve things they didn’t think possible. We’re so glad that we could arrange this for Sylvia, and that she had such a great time.


Amanda Connors , Day Therapy Team Leader at St Ann’s

To find out more information about our Day Therapy

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Brenda knits bees for St Ann’s

March 20, 2019 | 11:36am

Her latest handy work will be on show at our Manchester Midnight Walk on Friday on Friday April 26.

Brenda’s stylish bee badges will be worn by entrants at the moonlit 10km walk, famed for its yellow and black theme. We have adopted a bee theme this year, recognising the working bee motif which symbolises the city’s industrial heritage.

Brenda has close links with the hospice from living near its Heald Green site. She was a volunteer at St Ann’s when it opened in 1971 and older brother Bill Farrell was a patient and died there in 1998.

Ruth Labrow, one of our Creative Therapists, suggested that Brenda’s knitting skills could help raise funds for the charity.

 


I sit next to Ruth in the Decibelles Ladies Choir and made the brooches to wear when we sang at a concert to mark the first anniversary of the Manchester Arena tragedy. The florists where my daughter works also sells them to raise funds for the charity and they were on sale at the hospice summer fair. I also make woollen bees to hang in cars. It just took off and I didn’t realise how popular they would be.


Brenda Jones

Brenda’s badges are being sent to team leaders organising groups in the walk. They will also be on sale on the night at Manchester Cathedral where the walk starts and ends.

The popular event has raised more than £2million since it began 13 years ago, and the money raised helps us continue to provide specialist care to local patients and their families.

The walk starts at midnight with warm up entertainment from  9pm, with music, disco and refreshments available.

Standard Adult Fee is £21 (aged 18 and over);  Youth Walkers (minimum age 11-17) pay £11; Previous Walkers £16;  Groups (5 or more) £16 per person.

For more information about the Manchester Midnight Walk

Click Here




Call for new trustees

March 15, 2019 | 2:10pm

We’re looking for three new trustees to join our board of directors and help steer the organisation towards our 50th anniversary.

We will be celebrating 50 years of care in 2021, and we’re keen to welcome three new professionals to our board.

The first new board member will be a fully qualified accountant, and would assume the role of Honorary Treasurer, overseeing and monitoring the financial matters of the hospice in accordance with the governing and legal requirements. Knowledge and experience of capital campaign projects and an understanding of the fundraising landscape would be an advantage.

We’re also seeking a new board member with considerable strategic clinical experience, as well as experience of driving transformation in a clinical setting.

In addition, a third new board member would ideally have considerable strategic legal experience, including experience in build environment or construction. Again, knowledge of capital campaigns would also be advantageous, along with an interest in charity and corporate social responsibility.

Jackie Oldham


Our trustees are all volunteers and each brings a unique set of skills and experience to the hospice.
St Ann’s is a complex business, with fifteen shops, a lottery, and a range of fundraising and trading activities running alongside the core health and social care services we offer. The team at the hospice is providing world-class specialist support to local patients and their families, at a really difficult time in their lives, and I’m proud that we are always striving to be leaders in our field by sharing that knowledge and best practice and collaborating with others.
It’s an exciting time for St Ann’s. We’re approaching our 50th birthday and have ambitious strategic plans to ensure we’re able to reach even more local people from our communities than ever before. It’s our duty to make sure that future generations in Greater Manchester have access to high quality palliative and end of life care, and we’d love our new trustees to help us to ensure that’s the case.
We’re aiming to broaden the experience of the board as we continue to innovate, to develop links externally, and strengthen our finances. I’d love to hear from anyone with senior strategic leadership or board experience who feels they can help us to evolve and continue providing our much-needed care well into the future.


Jackie Oldham, Chair of St Ann’s

Interested in becoming a trustee?

For more information, or to apply for a trustee role, please click the button below.

Click here




Greg Kelly ready for action!

March 15, 2019 | 12:27pm

Wearing blue scrubs, a white jacket and a stethoscope  he will be hoping to earn a place in the record books on Sunday, April 28, and raise funds for St Ann’s.

The fastest time for completing the Guinness World Record in a doctor’s outfit is two hours and 53 minutes.

Greg has only run one marathon quicker than this time in the 16 marathons he has completed.


My first marathon was in London 2005 and took over five hours. Attempting a world record in under three hours there seems hard to believe.
I’ll have my work cut out with this attempt because not only will I be wearing a doctor’s outfit, but I’ll also have to adapt to potential weather issues.
Scorching temperatures at the London Marathon last year had a knock-on effect and understandably slowed down all runners. Fingers crossed the weather is a little kinder this year!
Guinness World Records have confirmed they will be present on the day to adjudicate and no-one has set a world record for St Ann’s Hospice in this kind of fundraising which is also a big motivation.
It’s something different and the doctor role has an obvious link with St Ann’s where they play a vital role in caring for patients as I know from my own family’s experience.



Greg and his family have already raised more than £12,000 for St Ann’s where his late father Ian was a patient three years ago. Sister Rachel raised £2,000 last year, helped by a generous donation from her employers PwC in Manchester. Read more about their fundraising here.

Greg has also appeared in Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and various TV roles.

To donate to Greg’s fundraising and help him and his family reach their target go to justgiving.com/gregkellygwr2019

Has Greg inspired you to take on a run for St Ann’s?

If so have a look at the different runs and challenges we have coming up.

Find out more here