New Charity of the Year: St. Michael’s Hospice

At Hireserve we pride ourselves on supporting local charities, and last year we embraced our very first Charity of the Year initiative, raising over £1,100 for Contact the Elderly.

This year, the team voted to partner with a brand new Charity of the Year. We surveyed the team once again on the causes they’d like to support, and which particular charities they wished to partner with for the 2018/19 year.

St. Michael’s Hospice won over the team’s hearts, and their votes, to become our new Charity of the Year.

The only adult hospice in the local area, St. Michael’s Hospice focuses on celebrating ‘quality of life’, and also holds Motor Neurone Disease and Prostate Cancer Clinics, as well as offering bereavement counselling and support to families and carers.

“We’re looking forward to supporting St. Michael’s Hospice as our new Charity of the Year. The Hospice touched the hearts of the team and we’re delighted to start volunteering, and raising the funds they need to continue supporting people affected by life-limiting illnesses, as well as their families and carers” – Karen Ovenden, Operations Director at Hireserve

How will we support the Hospice?

St. Michael’s Hospice only receives 20% of its costs through Government funding and crucially, provides services free of charge to its patients.

Hireserve will run fundraisers and take part in events run by St. Michael’s Hospice to help contribute to the funds it needs to continue supporting people and families in Basingstoke. The money raised will go towards running costs, including provisions like drugs and oxygen, which alone cost the Hospice £120 every day.

Jackie Ridge, Head of Fundraising at St. Michael’s Hospice, said of our initiative:

“We are thrilled that the staff at Hireserve voted for St. Michael’s Hospice and I am very excited about the opportunities this presents. To have the support of a key organisation in Basingstoke will make a huge difference to our fundraising objectives in the coming year.”

Going forward with St. Michael’s Hospice

As a team, we can’t wait to get involved with our new Charity of the Year and build on the success of last year’s initiative. We’re kicking off with an education session, during which a member of the Hospice team will come in to the Hireserve office and deliver some further information on the services St. Michael’s Hospice provides. We’re also planning a team ‘bake off’ in the very near future…

“Without the support of the local business community we simply could not continue to offer our services to patients and families in the area at a time when they are most needed. I would like to thank everyone at Hireserve for their show of support and the fundraising team look forward to working with you all during the coming year.” – Jackie Ridge

The following video offers more information about St. Michael’s Hospice, and shares some of the stories of families who have been supported by the amazing people there.