Auction of promises to help hospice

An auction of promises has raised thousands of pounds for a local hospice.

St Richard’s Hospice has been donated an impressive £17,625 following an event at The Elms School in Colwall.

Organised by a committee of ladies the event – which took place on Saturday 16 June – was attended by more than 120 people and included a prosecco reception and pig roast.

Rachel Jones, Fundraising Manger at St Richard’s Hospice said : “We are absolutely delighted that after months of planning and a great deal of hard work, the committee put on a splendid evening and an incredible £17,625 was raised for our patient care.  Their motivation for organising the event was as a result of the ladies attending our Christmas lunch where they learnt we have to raise £8million each year to provide the free care and support to patients and their families.  We are so delighted that they went onto organise this event for us.  Everyone who came along was so keen to support the hospice and we would like to thank everyone who bid in the auction and gave so generously to the raffle, as well as everyone who donated items and supported the evening in so many ways.  The committee – as well as the support they received from their families and friends – should be congratulated for such a successful event, raising such a tremendous amount for St Richard’s.”

Some of the promises included a weekend in London, 2 tickets for Centre Court at Wimbledon, 2 weeks in a holiday home in South Africa, a day at Malvern Spa for 2 and a day’s fly fishing.

Jane Poels from the organising committee said : “Thanks to the enormous amount of guidance from the St Richard’s fundraising team, we were able to organise a very enjoyable evening at The Elms School in Colwall, including a hog roast and entertainment by magicians, culminating in a very successful auction of promises.  We are delighted to have raised so much money for the wonderful work done by St Richard’s and would like to say a huge thank you to all who contributed to the event and helped make the evening such a success.”

Thanks goes to the school who gave the venue for free; children and husbands of the committee members also helped with car parking duties, bar work and auctioneering.

St Richard’s Hospice provides free specialist palliative and end of life care for patients living with life-limiting illnesses and supports their loved ones. Each year the hospice team supports more than 3,300 patients, family members and bereaved people in Worcestershire.

The hospice strives to provide the best medical, practical, emotional and social support they can to help people live life to the fullest, as independently as they can, for as long as they can. They care for people with a range of illnesses including heart failure, Parkinson’s, and motor neurone disease as well as cancer. 

St Richard’s is an independent charity and relies on donations for three quarters of its annual £8.8m income with the remainder from the NHS.

St Richard’s has launched the Build 2020 Appeal which aims to raise the final £1.4m needed to build a bigger hospice, enabling more patients and families to be cared for in Worcestershire.  The total cost for expanding and redeveloping the existing building in Wildwood Drive, Worcester, is £5.3m.

For more information about St Richard’s Hospice visit  www.strichards.org.uk