Last year 620 ladies took part in St Mary’s Hospice ladies only moonlit sponsored walk raising £45,000. This was an amazing achievement, but this year, with your help, St Mary’s would like to at least equal that magnificent total.

Over the last 20 years, St Mary’s has grown and developed extensively, enabling the hospice to care for many more local people each year. The special care provided and support is beyond price for those who benefit, but is only possible because of the generosity of those who give.

In 2012, with the help of the community, St Mary’s needs to raise approximately £6,000 per day to cover the running costs of all their services.

It’s the sixth time that St Mary’s has organised a sponsored ladies only moonlit walk, but this year, for the first time, it starts from both Ulverston and Barrow. St Mary’s has introduced the new Walk to Remember Extra to try and attract more support and give local ladies a new challenge.

The original seven mile moonlit Walk to Remember starts from ASDA in Barrow at 10pm, but anyone who wants can now go the extra miles for St Mary’s and take part in the Walk to Remember Extra. This starts from St Mary’s Hospice, Ulverston, at 8.30pm and will cover for 11 miles. The two walks will join into one on Abbey Road, at the checkpoint at the bottom of Dalton Lane, Barrow where both routes meet.

The Walk to Remember 2012 and Walk to Remember extra take place on Friday May 18th. Both walks cost just £10 to register call 01229 580305 or visit http://www.stmaryshospice.org.uk/events/walk-to-remember

There is no minimum sponsorship but St Mary’s does respectfully ask that you try and raise as much as you possibly can. Why not ask your employer if they will match fund you?

If you would like to be involved in the event, but for whatever reason do not want to do the walk, how about volunteering your assistance on the night?

St Mary’s will need lots of help, both male and female, with stewarding, registration, refreshments and other duties. To register as a volunteer please contact the St Mary’s Hospice Fundraising Team on 01229 580305 any time between 8.30am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

St Mary’s is delighted to announce that Chef Ooy, the No. 1 Thai celebrity Chef in the UK, will be hosting a second charity Thai Evening to raise funds for the Hospice on Wednesday 21st March at her restaurant in the Victoria Park Hotel, Barrow.

At the event, Thailand’s multi award winning queen of Oriental cooking will once again bring the finest cuisine of Asia to the people of Furness. All who attend will be able to enjoy a true Thai experience with a James Bond Theme twist.

Chef Ooy was the 2011 CN News Cumbria Business woman of the Year, the 2011 Food North West winner for Skills, winner of the 2011 SMARTA 100 Awards, she was the 2009 O2 North West Female Entrepreneur of the Year, a gold medal winner at the 2009 BFIIN Awards for education and in 2010 she was a runner up at the Ethnic Minority Business Forum Awards for Social Enterprise of the Year.

Chef Ooy and her team at the multi award winning educational school show the Northern School of Asian & Oriental Cooking has been to over 1100 schools & events in the last 5 years and she has appeared before more than 500,000 people.
Tickets for the event are only £10 and are available from St Mary’s Hospice. Tel: 01229 580305. However, numbers are strictly limited to 50 and anyone wishing to attend is advised to book tickets as soon as possible.

It is hoped that lots of money will be raised for St Mary’s on the night as Chef Ooy demonstrates how she produces her fantastic Asian & Oriental food. Her new recipe book and DVD will be available to purchase on the night.

The team at St Mary’s were delighted to present a Barrow-in-Furness woman with a cheque for £10000 recently. The lady (who didn’t wish to be named) has been playing the St Mary’s Lottery for 12 years and was overwhelmed to be the 3rd ever winner of the rollover prize, which was introduced in 2010.

She said “We couldn’t believe it when the Hospice phoned. We have never won anything before. St Mary’s is such a very worthy cause and we will continue to support them.”

St Mary’s lottery was established in 1998 to support the work of the hospice. The lottery currently has over 7,000 playing members and it has become a major source of sustainable funding for St Mary’s.

There is a prize fund of £1700 to be won each week! The top prize is £1000 and the rollover prize starts at £200, this is increased by £200 each week and peaks at £10,000! There are also 12 other valuable cash prizes.

It only costs £1 a week to play the St Mary’s lottery and with the opportunity to stand a chance of winning up to £10,000 while helping a local charity - everyone should join! If you are not a member and would like to join then give the lottery team a call on 01229 580305 or visit http://www.stmaryshospice.org.uk/lottery/join-our-lottery

The lottery runs on a secure computer software programme specially designed for the purpose. Each new player is given a unique draw number, randomly generated by the computer. A draw takes place every Friday and the winners are randomly selected by the computer. Players must be 18 years or over.

2012 is a Leap Year and this means that St Mary’s has to find an extra days running costs. The additional day at the end of February will cost the charity an extra £6000 to run all of the services it provides. To help St Mary’s raise this extra funding the charity is asking all local people to donate small change and pennies on the 29th February in their Penny Pinching Challenge.

St Mary’s will distribute Penny Pinching boxes upon request during February and all you have to do is fill them! It is really simple and hopefully as many people as possible will come forward to help.

The Penny Pinching Challenge is a great event for schools to take part in. Schools can distribute our small Penny Pinching boxes to their pupils, and at the end of the Penny Pinching Challenge the children return the boxes to the school. At the end of the challenge period the hospice collects the returned boxes and our volunteers count the monies received. All participating schools will receive a certificate.

Alternatively, local people may wish to organise a small event or coffee morning on that date and place all funds into the challenge box provided.

To take part in any part of the Penny Pinching Challenge please call Lorraine, St Mary’s Hospice Fundraising Team on 01229 580305 or email events@stmaryshospice.org.uk 

St Mary’s Hospice is absolutely delighted that the Vintage Village Hall team will be hosting one of their famous pop-up fairs and tearooms to raise funds for the charity at Greenodd Village Hall on Sunday 29th April. 

At the event you will find amazing exhibitors offering: vintage clothing and accessories from the 1930s – 1970s, jewellery, homewares and much more. A special stall from the St Mary’s Hospice retail chain will also feature.

St Mary’s Hospice is hoping to have another barking-mad day out on Sunday 11th March when they host their second sponsored walk for dogs. They hope that a maximum of 50 owners will come forward to put their pooch to the test.

On Saturday 17th March, St Mary’s Hospice hopes to bring the sounds of Freddie Mercury, the greatest rock singer of all time to Dalton. Mercury, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen was famous for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range.

It is hoped that the outstanding tribute act “Deano” can recreate some of his magic when St Mary’s hosts a special evening at Dalton Cricket Club to raise funds for the charity. Starting at 7.30pm, DJ Billy will entertain the audience with up to date tunes and get the audience warmed up ready for the main performance.

Deano will capture the imagination of the audience with his amazing vocal and costume familiarity of Freddie Mercury himself and take the audience through one of the most explosive times in British Rock and Pop!...

Tickets are £10 to include a hot supper provided by the Bob Inn Cafe.

Deano has a worldwide following and has been pleasing audiences of all ages for many years with his unique voice and vocal style and his vast repertoire. The St Mary’s Fundraising team are sure that this event will soon be sold out.

For tickets call St Mary's on 01229 580305. Tickets can also be purchased at from St Mary’s or from with the St Mary’s Charity Shop in Dalton or Barrow.

On Tuesday 7th February, Zoe Guest St Mary’s Funding and Operations Manager and Hannah Priestley-Jukes our Business Administration apprentice were pleased to receive a cheque for £1000 at the ‘Tally Ho’ in Barrow-in-Furness from Hayley Mackay.

A Tribute 60th Birthday night was held in memory of Pamela Mackay at the ‘Tally Ho’. Many activities were held on the night including tombola, raffles, bands and bouncy castles.

A total of £1345 was raised; £345 had been kindly donated to the Oncology Unit at Furness General Hospital, with the rest of the proceeds donated to St. Mary’s.

Everyone at the hospice would like to thank the people that have supported the event, and the organisers for such a great achievement.