St Ann’s Hospice is appealing for virtual fundraising ideas to help meet its running costs of £20,000 A DAY after Coronavirus has forced it to scrap traditional events.
The charity, which has three sites including one in Salford, only receives a third of its funding from the NHS so has to rely on donations for the rest.
Chief executive Eamonn O’Neal said: “It’s really difficult for charities like ours at the moment.
“We’ve had to cancel or adapt all of our spring events, including our Manchester Midnight Walk, which is our biggest fundraiser.
“Cancelling events has a huge impact, as does the fact that lots of our corporate supports or individuals are also unable to run their own events that were planned in aid of the hospice.”
The hospice, which has one of its three centres in Little Hulton, has adapted and innovated where it can and has changed the Manchester Midnight Walk into the Manchester Virtual Walk where the challenge is to walk either 5km in a day in June or 10km over a week in June – all while keeping to the government guidelines.
During the pandemic the charity has received a small share of money as promised by the Chancellor. However, there are around 200 hospices in the UK and although this money has come in very handy, the government help is spread very thinly.
Mr O’Neal said: “At the moment, we are relying on individuals, companies and others who are supporting our work, whether by donating items for our frontline doctors and nurses or making a donation on our website or by cheque.”
Since the outbreak of the virus, people have been finding lots of imaginative ways to raise money for the hospice.
This includes taking part in the charities’ celebrity-hosted zoom quiz and being sponsored to do their daily exercise.There is even someone who has climbed the height of Snowdon by going up their stairs more than 1300 times in a day.
Our dancing heroes are back, this time with a dance from our Little Hulton nurses & staff. They might be dancing in the rain, but they are still walking on sunshine as they continue to care for our patients. Can you help support our dancing heroes? https://t.co/hJj8nKrvoT
— St Ann’s Hospice (@StAnnsHospice) May 8, 2020
The charity has also received help from local businesses, schools, and colleges who have been printing 3D PPE.
Mr O’Neal said: “We even had a lady who had used her sewing machine to make scrub bags for our clinical staff and she had thoughtfully added bags of sweets to the bottom of each one.
“We’re hugely grateful to everyone who has helped the hospice and would really appreciate the support from anyone reading this who might be able to help too. Anyone who would like to take on a challenge, make a donation, sign up to our hospice lottery or take part in the Manchester Virtual Walk really would be making a huge difference to the care we can provide to the patients.”
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