To celebrate turning 35 years old, St Mary’s Hospice is looking for businesses to join its Compassionate Companies Network to ensure the hospice is there for the next 35 years.

To join the Compassionate Companies Network businesses pledge to donate £35 per month for the next 35 months.

The Ulverston based hospice held a launch event in The Orangery on March 25 with companies that have already signed up finding out more about each other and the wonderful work that goes on at St Mary’s.

The businesses were welcomed by Annabelle Holloway the Corporate Partnership Manager along with Val Stangoe, CEO of St Mary’s, with Annabelle saying: “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.”

One of the companies that has signed up is Charnley’s Home and Garden with Managing Director Sam Procter who spoke at the event.

Later Sam spoke about why they pledged their support, saying: “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.”

Cheryl Fenwick attended the event to represent Travel The Globe after pledging their support for 35 months, with Cheryl having experienced the support the hospice provides explaining: “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.”

Another company with a personal experience, 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.”

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.”

So far more than 10 businesses have signed up to donate £35 for 35 months.

In return for their donation and support, the businesses will be invited to quarterly networking meetings and their logo will appear on the hospice’s website.

They will also 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.

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.

The services the hospice offer are free to all but they are not free to run and with only one-fifth (20 percent) of the funding the hospice receives coming from the NHS.

This means 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. 

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 and join the Compassionate Company Network please email Annabelle at annabelle.holloway@stmaryshospice.org.uk