St Mary’s Hospice is delighted to launch their new Compassionate Companies Network. To celebrate turning 35 years old this year, the hospice is inviting businesses from in and around the area to pledge to support them.

So far, Annabelle Holloway, Corporate Partnership Manager at the hospice has secured more than 10 businesses who will kindly donate £35 for 35 months, all to ensure St Mary’s is here for another 35 years and more. The businesses signed up so far are: Napthens Solicitors, Travel The Globe, Athena PTS, RSS Accounts, MKM, Charnley’s Home & Garden, BNI Cumbria, 32 West, Lakeland Retreats, Deltawaite, JPS on Socials, Poole Townsend and Stollers.

In return for their donation and support, the businesses will be invited to quarterly networking meetings, their logo will appear on the hospice’s website, they will receive their own Compassionate Company certificate and logo to display with pride and will receive continued social media and PR coverage throughout the 35 months. The first 10 companies that signed up also got their logo on the official leaflet which has now been printed.

To launch the new scheme an event was held at the Ulverston hospice and allowed all the businesses to come together to network. Held in The Orangery at the hospice, the businesses were able to find out more about each other and the wonderful work that goes on at St Mary’s.

Compassionate Companies aims to help St Mary’s continue to provide care for those in the community for another 35 years and more. The services the hospice offer are free to all but they are not free to run.

Only one-fifth of the funding the hospice receives comes from the NHS meaning that the care of 8 out of 10 patients is funded from voluntary donations from the community and businesses like those that have signed up.

Launching the scheme, Annabelle said: “We are extremely grateful to all of the businesses who have signed up to join our Compassionate Companies Network. Their support will provide us with sustainability for the future of the hospice and allow us to plan our services and care ahead. I would encourage any local business to get in touch with myself if they are interested in joining our network. This is an excellent opportunity to network with like-minded businesses, demonstrate your business’ commitment to its local hospice and the wider community and improve your brand visibility.”

During the launch event companies came together and were welcomed by Annabelle along with Val Stangoe, CEO of St Mary’s, before hearing from Sam Procter, Managing Director at Charnley’s Home and Garden.

Charnley’s are just one of the many companies who have signed up to support St Mary’s over the next 35 months. Speaking about why they pledged their support, Sam said: “We feel that St Mary’s is a huge asset to the community, it’s somewhere that we all know someone who has been affected or used the services. It’s somewhere close to our heart and that’s why we decided to support the hospice.”

Like with many people across the area, Travel The Globe have witnessed first-hand the care St Mary’s Hospice provides. Cheryl Fenwick attended the event on Monday (March 25) to represent the company after pledging their support for 35 months.

Cheryl said: “Our dad passed away while still at home and he was cared for by the Hospice at Home team so we wanted to give back.

“It’s a great cause and we wanted to support it as much as possible.”

Stollers are no stranger to supporting St Mary’s Hospice and decided to sign up as a compassionate company. Eden Stoller explained: “St Mary’s has supported the local area for as long as I can remember. They have always supported the local community and we wanted to return the favour to the area. St Mary’s is a pillar of the community, so we thought the best way to help was to sign up to Compassionate Companies.”

Georgina Smith of Napthens Solicitors added: “St Mary’s Hospice is a charity that is very close to my and my family’s heart. A year ago, the hospice helped my family and allowed us to say goodbye to my grandad in the way he wanted. They were so wonderful throughout the process, and I don’t know what we would have done without their support.

“I feel privileged to work for a firm that supports such an amazing charity, because it’s only through support from the South Lakes community that it can continue to support patients and their families.”

By signing up as a Compassionate Company, businesses are pledging to donate £35 for 35 months and over that time will have raised enough money to fund over 40 hours of bereavement care. If you would like to sign up to be a ‘Compassionate Company’ email Annabelle at annabelle.holloway@stmaryshospice.org.uk