Charity begins at (show)home

Tue, Jan 9th 2007, 11:00

Almost entirely dependent on donations and fundraising, Wakefield Hospice was ‘delighted’ when a local house builder stepped in to help boost their income – assisting the organisation to continue its work to support terminally ill patients and their families.
 
Realising they had plenty of home accessories such as lamps and mirrors from show homes that were no longer needed, Wakefield-based Redrow Homes generously decided to put them to better use, and offered them to the hospice.

Julie Rayner, sales director for Redrow Homes (Yorkshire) says: “As a company we always try to support local charities, and so when we were deciding what to do with all our old show home furniture – most of it hardly used – it seemed natural to give it to the hospice.

“We held a sale of the smaller items first of all, where we raised £160 for the hospice, and we have now handed over all the remaining items to the hospice directly.”

This means the charitable organisation will be able to sell some of the things donated by the house builder in their charity shops to raise money toward running costs, and then use the rest as prizes in raffles and tombolas to continue their fundraising efforts.

Helen Knowles, director of fundraising for Wakefield Hospice, was overjoyed at the donation, saying: “Our running costs come to £2.3million a year, and we have to raise 80% of this money through donations and fundraising events to keep the hospice going. We’re delighted Redrow chose to help us, and it’s wonderful that they planned an event themselves to raise the money, as we’re constantly trying to organise as many as possible”

Wakefield Hospice is a provider of specialist palliative care to patients and their families. The hospice comprises of a 16-bed inpatient unit that provides specialist symptom management and support for local patients (and their families) who are facing terminal illness.

The organisation also offers various services and therapies through its day therapy unit, including arts and crafts sessions, complementary therapies, lunch and a drop-in service.

Helen adds: “I hope the relationship between our hospice and Redrow will continue, as we’re both based in the same town working with the people of Wakefield.”

Julie continues: “We have come to think of Wakefield Hospice as our nominated charity, and we will endeavour to assist them in whatever way we can. As our regional office is in Wakefield, this makes working with the hospice even more special, as we can directly help our local community and its residents.”

Redrow recently retained its Business in the Community (BITC) Percent standard for the fourth consecutive year, a voluntary benchmark awarded to companies which invest at least 1% of their pre-tax profits back into the community, either through direct donations, sponsorships, employee time or gifts in kind.

If you’d like to learn more about making a donation to the hospice or get involved in fundraising, please call Helen and her team on 01924 213900 or email fr.manager@wakefieldhospice.co.uk.

Wakefield Hospice shops can be found in Wakefield city centre, Ossett, Horbury and Morley.