These students are raising money for Beaumond House as part of the National Citizen Service.
Students have been inspired to raise money for Beaumond House Community Hospice, Newark, which is facing a funding shortfall of £100,000.
The teenagers, from Toot Hill School, Bingham, have adopted the charity as part of the National Citizen Service, which is a voluntary personal and social development programme.
They were moved to help after reading about the hospice’s cash crisis in the Advertiser (read more about Beaumond House's plight in the links below).
The hospice, on London Road, needs more than £1m a year to provide palliative care and services for hundreds of patients and their families.
The NHS provides only 40% of that, meaning the rest has to be raised by the community.
At the moment, the hospice is expecting a shortfall of £100,000 by the end of the financial year, in March 2020, so needs help.
On Wednesday the Toot Hill students were busy putting new plants in the hospice’s garden, and on Thursday were at the hospice again, taking part in a 120-mile sponsored cycle on an exercise bike.
The 13 members of the group cycled in stints until they reached their target.
Anyone who would like to sponsor them is invited to visit their instagram page @team_beaumond_house
Beaumond House had an open day and coffee morning on Saturday to let people see the hospice and find out more about the services it offers.
A performance by a community choir marked the start of the event.
Just Sing! led by Peter Higgins, were invited to the event by the hospice’s volunteer co-ordinator Lucy Millard.
She said she was delighted they had been able to go along and made the occasion extra special.
“The hospice is a vital part of the community and so we are always really pleased when choirs and other groups from the community come along and join us,” she said.
“At Beaumond House we really do appreciate the wonderful support we get but we are always grateful for more.
“We and would love to hear from anybody who would like to get involved in any way, no matter how big or small.”
The hospice offers its services to people living within a 15-mile radius of Newark. In light of the expected £100,000 shortfall the open day also showed how people could help support Beaumond House financially.
The Advertiser told last week how the hospice, which was the winner of the 2019 Newark Business Awards customer care category, needed even more support from the public.
Fundraising and marketing manager Cathy Lowe said Advertiser readers had responded generously to the plea for more financial help, but there was still a long way to go.
The best way to give is by signing up to a regular giving agreement.
Three years ago, 300 people signed up following an appeal in the Advertiser. It helped raise an extra £30,000, which Cathy is hoping to repeat.
It can be done online, through the hospice’s Justgiving page, or by completing a form available from the hospice.
Beaumond House has been committed to providing supportive palliative care to patients and their families living in Newark and district since 1987. It has four in-patient beds, a day therapy service, and a Hospice at Home service, as well as a resource and information service.
READ MORE:
Beaumond House needs more than £1m a year to provide their services.
Tom Davis spent a week as a patient at Beaumond House Community Hospice before he passed away.
