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.
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.
