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Hospice visit is big inspiration

10/ 6/2008

STUDENTS from Hopwood Hall College have helped the Observer’s Springhill Hospice campaign sail past the £5,000 mark.

Certificate of administration students raised a fantastic £2,380 as part of the Can You Spare a Minute appeal.

The group decided to start fundraising after visiting the hospice in December and discovering that the day-to-day running costs amounted to over £5,000.

Tutor Yvonne Warburton helped the students organise a programme of fundraising events, which included bag packing at Asda and Morrisons, a tombola, luncheon, raffle, and a name the bunny competition.

Christine Webb, chief executive of Springhill Hospice, recently gave the students and their tutors a tour of the refurbished facilities to show them exactly how donations are spent.

Mrs Webb said: "We at Springhill Hospice are thrilled that the college students decided to get involved with the campaign and managed to raise such an impressive sum.

"Since their last visit our facilities have improved tremendously. The refurbishment has helped us keep up our commitment to providing the best possible quality of life for our patients and their families for as long as they stay with us. We really can’t stress enough how the generosity of fundraisers makes such a vital difference."

Student Emily Hughes added: "Visiting the hospice made us realise that hospices are not places to be frightened of – we learned that two thirds of patients actually go home. We are glad the money we have raised will go towards upgrading the inpatient bays and many of us are now interested in becoming volunteers too."

Click here for our special report on the appeal ...