Events Update 2008

What Women Want! A great night out

The glamorous women of Wirral put on their party frocks and high heels to raise money for the Hospice.

The event was on 27th November at Thornton Hall Hotel and was called What Women Want! It was a night of great entertainment, Champagne, Chips and Grand Auction of Girlie things. Including handbags, beauty treatments, gorgeous make up and hotel stays – all the things that Women Want.

Winning ticket number 54422 is delighted Donna's key to her brand new Corsa!

Mrs Donna Clarke is pictured receiving the keys for her brand new Corsa from John Boulton – General Manager Lookers Ellesmere Port. The car was raffled in aid of St John's Hospice Anniversary Appeal.

The car raffle, supported by Lookers, has raised £27k towards the new Out Patient Services Unit which will be fully open in November.

Donna bought the ticket in the Pyramids on Saturday and now plans to learn to drive to make full use of her fantastic prize.

She was not present for the actual draw but her sister and daughter were. A few frantic phone calls later and Donna appeared to hear the good new for herself.

Lesley Woodhead, Fundraising and Marketing Manager says “ Many thanks to all that supported our car raffle – I am delighted that the winner Donna is so pleased and will take this opportunity to learn to drive.”

No Mountain too high!

Following on from their success at conquering Kilimanjaro the intrepid trio of Airbus engineers (Peter Jarvis, Derek Jeavons and Ian Lloyd) are joined by Craig Fairclough to take on the challenge of summiting Mont Blanc in September.

At 4810m (15,781 ft) Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Western Europe and will present severe challenges to the team in the form of extreme cold, ice climbing, altitude sickness, falling rocks and narrow exposed ridges not to mention the preparation and fitness required for a summit attempt.

Once again this expedition is in memory of colleagues Gary Furness who died in 2005 in the Hospice of the Good Sheppard, Chester and Barbara Camden who died in 2007 after a period of care within the Hospice organisation. Consequently all sponsorship and proceeds will be donated to St John's Hospice in Wirral.

St John's Hospice in Wirral provides:

• Specialist Palliative Care and support for patients with severe and progressive disease, usually cancer, where curative treatment is no longer possible.
• The aim of St John's Hospice is to warmly welcome people with a progressive illness, which has failed to respond to curative treatment, into the quiet calm of a highly professional, caring atmosphere which comforts always both them and those who are important to them.
• Patients are referred to St John's Hospice by their family doctor or hospital specialist. The specialist team comprises medical and nursing staff, social workers and physiotherapist.
• The Hospice service is available to all, free of charge the demands on the Hospice services continue to grow – this year the cost of providing care to all of our patients and their loved ones will be over £2 million, the bulk of which we need to raise from local voluntary sources.

New Brighton Promenade Rally

Bryan Evans of Denbigh was the lucky winning ticket holder for the Supercar Raffle held at the recent Printmatters Promenade Stages Rally held on a wet and windy New Brighton Promenade 6th September.

Chris Davis & Brandon Parker were the rally winners for the third successive year, recording the fastest cumulative time for the rally's 10 stages driving their Darrian T90 rally car.

By Jove, By Jeeves

St John's Hospice and The Phoenix Players hit a high note recently with the outstanding performance of “By Jeeves” held at Poulton Hall, Bebington.

The event was a roaring success and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone thanks to the beautiful surroundings; glorious weather and fantastic theatre company, The Phoenix players.

Guests arrived around 6.30pm at Poulton Hall with Picnics which they were then able to enjoy in the beautiful themed gardens, this was followed by a memorable performance of the hilarious “By Jeeves” expertly performed by Theatre Company: The Phoenix Players,

The night concluded with the walled gardens being lit beautifully by lanterns as guests were safely escorted to their cars.

Hospice Staff and Volunteers in the fantastic Gardens at Poulton Hall

St John's Hospice Fundraising Manager Lesley Woodhead with Mrs June Lancelyn Green MBE

Hospice Volunteers with Mrs June Lancelyn Green

St John's Hospice would to like extend a huge thank you to everyone involved in this spectacular event with extra special thanks to June Lancelyn Green for the kind use of her lovely gardens and all her help throughout the event.

The Silver Ball

The Silver Ball was a great success raising £18.5k for the Anniversary Appeal.

Many thanks to all our guests and all those who donated prizes. Special thanks must go to the banqueting team at Thornton Hall Hotel for all their hard work in ensuring the evening went so well.

Next years Ball will take place on Friday 3 July at Thornton Hall Hotel.

Click to see the pics...

Golf Day at Prenton

St John's swung into action on Thursday with our annual Charity Golf Challenge Cup at Prenton Golf Club.

The day began around 1pm when our first team teed off, followed throughout the afternoon by 13 additional teams.

Later in the day the players enjoyed a fantastic 3 course dinner while looking out over the course. The meal was followed by prize giving and a raffle.

The weather was glorious all day and Prenton Golf club were perfect hosts.

Dr Paul Cuthbertson and his team enjoy the sun at the starting tee.

Taking first prize on the day was Roger Hargreaves and his team "The Old Chippers".

"The Wirral Ladies", Liz Munro (right), Val Murray, Jen Hughes and Jan Mills get ready for Tee off.

Winners...

• 1st The Old Chippers
• 2nd The Heswall Has Beens
• 3rd Wirral Ladies

For details call me on 0151 343 0778 or email hdykes@stjohnshospice.org

Thanks once again to everyone that made the day such a huge success.