Strictly Fever

The hospice has been hit with 'Strictly' fever as our fantastic 'Strictly Come Prancing' event fast approaches. This was a sell out event last year when we held our first ever 'Strictly Come Prancing' at the Normandy Hotel in September 2012 and raised a staggering £26,000! The dancing bug soon filtered out through our supporters and we are delighted to have 18 couples taking part over two nights this time around!

The support for this event has been tremendous and we are very lucky to have such a talented dance coach on board. Michelle from GX Studio based in Pro Life in Paisley has been rehearsing with all of our participants and putting them through their paces, getting them ready to tread the boards in aid of the hospice.

One of our couples said, "When we heard about this opportunity to not only learn to dance but to combine it with raising money for a great cause and also providing entertainment for our friends ... well we just had to go for it!"

Another one of our participants said, "Never one to shrink from a challenge, when it was booked for this year and there were spaces available I couldn't resist. Being the year of the 25th anniversary also makes it a special time to do it."

It really is a star studded affair - well almost, we have our very own Brucie and Tess and of course it wouldn't be a strictly event without the judges!

Taking place on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th April, these are two of the best nights the month of April will ever have. Tickets for the Saturday night have sold out, but there are still limited tickets available for Friday, and at just £25 with a drinks reception, 2 course meal and entertainment included how can you resist.

With just over one week to go our budding Fred Astaires and Ginger Rogers' are all ready and raring to go with their music from the movies theme, to dazzle and delight with their dancing on the night, and we can't wait to see them all in the spotlight.

Last years winners Justin and Stephanie

Stepping into Spring at St Vincent's Hospice

It's hard to believe that we are at the beginning of April. The year has got off to a flying start - quite literally!

We recently invited our Ambassadors to a small lunch reception to celebrate the hospice's 25th  anniversary. We are very lucky to have committed and generous support from all our St Vincent's Hospice Ambassadors, who include the Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, STV's Sean Batty and Radio Scotland's Shereen Nanjiani - we continue to be very inspired by their dedication.

Following the lunch, Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander told the press " I met with St Vincent's Hospice's Chief Executive, Kate Lennon, and my fellow Ambassadors as part of the hospice's 25th anniversary celebrations. It was an opportunity to hear directly about the incredible work the hospice does week-in, week-out, supporting patients and families' right across Renfrewshire and beyond. Providing such excellent specialist palliative care at the most sensitive time for families is a precious gift to our community."

Sandy Stoddart, Sculptor in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen and St Vincent's Hospice Ambassador has announced 3 exclusive tours that he is hosting to celebrate the 25th anniversary. See our website for more information here.

The influence and support of our Ambassadors will ensure that it really is a special year for St Vincent's Hospice.

We have also received tremendous support from our local business community across Renfrewshire; as a result we are now developing important corporate partnerships and our sincere thanks go to everyone involved - you can see all our corporate partners here.

Our website has dedicated pages for our Executive Club 25 members and our Corporate Partners, which include logos and links to our partners' websites. As a local charity we are extremely grateful for the support we receive from our communities; being partnered with so many supportive businesses demonstrates the kindness and compassionate within our communities.

There are still plenty opportunities to become a 25th Anniversary corporate partner for St Vincent's Hospice, for as little as £100. Just contact the fundraising team on info@svh.co.uk and they will get all the information you need.

It's that time of year again when the running shoes are getting pulled out and dusted off! As Spring fast approaches everyone is getting into gear and starting to train for various runs. Some of the big events this year are; the Women's 10k on 12th May, the Edinburgh Half Marathon on 26th May and the Great Scottish Run on 6th October.

We are very lucky to have a brand new 5K road race right on the hospice's doorstep taking place on Sunday 14th April! The Bowfield Hotel & Country Club are running their inaugural 5K road race in aid of St Vincent's Hospice and we are delighted to be involved - Bowfield 5k.

Within the hospice there has been a real buzz about this new run and our staff are forming a cheer station to encourage all the participants to keep going. Howwood Primay School has also gathered pupils together to help lime the road and cheer all the runners along.

We are also looking for some volunteers to help marshal the route on the morning of the run, you will be helping to line the route and keeping our runners on the right track! If you are available to help for just 2 hours contact ashley.moran@svh.co.uk or 01505 705635.

Equally if you want to take part in the 5k please contact the Leisure team at the Bowfield at enquiries@bowfieldhotel.co.uk or 01505 705225.

If running is not your thing, our weekend cycle and trek on the Isle of Arran could be for you, our Challenge 25. Already we've had some very enthusiastic supporters register to take part, and there are still spaces available. The Challenge 25 group is very driven and are organising some training dates, making it a real team effot.

Our Director of Fundraising Karen is taking part and said "It's going to be a fantastic weekend - a good luck breakfast at St Vincent's, bus then ferry to Arran before we begin a beautiful cycle to Lochranza followed by a celebration dinner. Then on Sunday we cycle to the foot of Goatfell before trekking up and getting the most incredible West coast views, before returning to the hospice before sunset. What a terrific weekend!"

With just over 2 months to go until Challenge 25 there is still time to get your bike our of hibernation and grab your walking boots. Now spring is fast approaching it's the perfect time to get active and get involved. If you fancy finding out more or signing up for this fantastic duathlon contact us at info@svh.co.uk.

Fantastic start to February

Well what can we say? It feels like no time at all since we returned from Christmas and New Year, getting back in to the swing of things, and now it's February! Activities at St Vincent's have been moving at a similarly swift pace as well.

Since our official media launch on the 9th January we have been working very hard across the hospice teams to create our 25th Anniversary special edition Newsletter. This has been a wonderful team effort with everyone giving their stories and input. The fundraising team put on their design hats and worked away like busy little bees, and now the newsletter has been sent to print and will be hitting doorsteps on Wednesday.

St Vincent's Hospice has also been a flurry of activity this past week with lots of new faces; we've had the privilege of welcoming new volunteers in to help support our administration. Without the help of volunteers we simply could not provide the services which we do - volunteers manage our shops and the Barn Tearoom, count donations, assist in day hospice and help the fundraising team with collections and events. This is just a snapshot of how volunteers assist us, if you want to find out more about how volunteering helps the hospice and how you can get involved visit www.svh.co.uk.

Kirstin, one of our former volunteers who helped the fundraising team in the lead up to the busy Christmas period, was successful in securing full-time, permanent employment whilst volunteering at St Vincent's Hospice. She said; "it was a great experience for me and I would definitely not be in my current job without the insight I gained at St Vincent's."

From new faces at the hospice to a very familiar face, we had the pleasure of welcoming Hugh Henry MSP at St Vincent's Hospice for a visit. As he was being shown around the building meeting staff and volunteers, he expressed how surprised he was to find out that over 50% of our services are actually community based. Previously he believed that most of our care was carried out here in the hospice building; a view no doubt shared by many people in our community.

During his walk round he bumped into a former pupil of his, from his days teaching accountancy; our very own counsellor Theresa! After a good reminisce of the past and a brief catch up, Hugh popped over to the Barn Tearoom for a coffee and a look around our new Vintage Stall. Of course we couldn't resist the urge to take a few shots of him and our Director of Care, Brona McGee, posing with some collectables.

All in all it's been a very encouraging start to the month. During our 25th Anniversary year we want to invite everyone to come up to the hospice to see the care provided here; you may be surprised by what you find - it really isn't doom and gloom, in fact it is one of the most uplifting places you will ever visit.

Challenge Yourself

We have been very lucky here at St Vincent's Hospice to receive a fantastic response from our supporters to our 25th Anniversary celebrations and £1m appeal. Fundraising fever has been spreading with lots of new Hospice events and external supporter events being announced, and now it has even spread to our own staff!

One of our brand new events for this year is 'Challenge 25'; an exclusive weekend cycle and trek on the Isle of Arran. One of the first people to sign up for this was our very own Director of Fundraising & Communications Karen Milne. She has jumped at the chance to get her cycling gear on and put pedal to the metal in aid of St Vincent's Hospice.

"After such a long, dark winter I needed something to get me motivated and out into the fresh air; I thought Challenge 25 was a great excuse to get back on my bike and shake the dust off my walking boots. I've lived locally for years but am ashamed to say have never conquered Goatfell and rarely cycle on Arran despite the close proximity. Signing up for Challenge 25 is a great way to get me exercising, attempting a new challenge and raising funds for local patients and their families.

"It's going to be a fantastic weekend - a good luck breakfast at St Vincent's, bus then ferry to Arran before we begin a beautiful cycle to Lochranza for a bit of a celebration dinner. Then on Sunday we cycle to the foot of Goatfell before trekking up and getting the most incredible West coast views, before returning to the Hospice before sunset. What a terrific weekend!"

The team took the opportunity to have some fun with Karen's registration and have made her the official 'face' of Challenge 25. In true fundraising spirit she donned her St Vincent's t-shirt, cycle gear and helmet to have some promotional pictures taken. This being Scotland it was hard to pick a day with sunshine, especially in February, but despite the elements we did the mini photo shoot in the Hospice courtyard in the middle of gale force winds and rain. And even with all that - doesn't she look great!?!

If anyone is inspired by Karen to take part in Challenge 25 please visit www.svh.co.uk for the booking form. Our information evening is at the Hospice on Thursday 21st Feb at 6.30pm, and everyone is invited to come for coffee and cake and to hear more about this amazing event from the organisers: Sport Ecosse Events.

Happy Anniversary!

January 25th was a special day in Scotland; many were planning their haggis dinners to celebrate the birth of our very own Bard Robert Burns. Well St Vincent's Hospice also had a very special reason to celebrate on Friday as it turned 25 years old and officially started to celebrate its 25th anniversary year!

We were undeterred by the late night snow fall of Thursday and would not let this dampen our spirits as we opened our doors to welcome staff and volunteers up to help us mark this very special day. Our wonderful maintenance team worked tirelessly all morning to clear the pathways and car park to restore normal access to the hospice.

Our Director of Fundraising Karen Milne set up a fantastic 'Walk Down Memory Lane' with newspaper cuttings and pictures of when the first hospice was opened in Johnstone in 1988 and then taking you through the move to our current location in Midton Road. The staff also got involved in this 'Walk Down Memory Lane' by bringing in pictures of themselves from 25 years ago - a small competition was created from this to see how many staff members and volunteers you could guess, needless to say a couple really did stump everyone, it is amazing to see how some people have changed and others not.

The one thing that seemed to resonate from everyone who attended the 'Birthday' party was how the hospice had grown and changed over the years! From the first fundraising team and building with only an in-patient unit costing £1,000 per day, to our current services comprising of 8 beds, community specialist nurse team and day hospice costing £5,000 per day. The services are constantly evolving and expanding to meet the ever growing need of our community. It is a wonderful thing to see how much has developed in the last 25 years.

So happy anniversary to St Vincent's Hospice from all the staff, volunteers and supporters - here's to the next 25 years.