Donations Archives - East Cheshire Hospice

Update on Heather Broadbent’s Around the World Challenge

Posted on 14th August 201914th August 2019 by Amy Chatwood

Round-the-world sailor Heather Broadbent is preparing to embark on her epic voyage on Sunday (Sept 1).

Heather will spend 11 months at sea competing in the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race which starts at St Katherine Docks in London.

The landscape gardener, from Disley, will be on board the 70-foot ocean racing yacht GoToBermuda for her trip-of-a-lifetime.

Heather is hoping to raise £40,000 for East Cheshire Hospice where her late husband Adam (45) was a patient. Adam died of cancer in 2013.

Heather has already raised £22,750, a total boosted by £6,500 after her adventure was featured on the regional BBC 1 programme North West Tonight.

The funds will go towards supporting the charity’s Hospice @ Home service which has treated 626 patients since it began in October 2017.

Heather, who has two grown up daughters, said: “I’m so excited and can’t wait for the race to start. I’ve completed all my training and if anyone can sponsor me, they’ll be supporting a marvellous cause. My aim is to raise a pound for every mile of the 40,000-mile journey.

“I’ve already met half our crew, and everyone has been absolutely wonderful. We’ve all got the same mindset but we realise that spending so long together at sea in a confined space will be a challenge.

“I’m looking forward to visiting every port, especially Bermuda which sounds like a fabulous island.”

Heather has been appointed team co-ordinator, supervising a rota so that no-one is on duty for more than 12 hours during a 24-hour period.

Heather said: “It’s a huge honour and quite a task making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time with the correct kit.”

To help her, she will test a new Dell Latitude Rugged laptop supplied by the computer company so she can also send back pictures, vlogs and blogs.

Heather Broadbent will be travelling light at sea.

Each crew member has a 15-kilogram weight allowance, set by their team, for individual cubby holes.

Heather said: “We’re allowed to carry less weight than someone would probably take for a weekend away, but as you can imagine there’s little room on board.

“I’m taking three changes of clothing but no luxuries, so I’ll leave behind my face cream.

“I’ll have my own sleeping bag but won’t have my own bunk bed. There could be 22 people on board at any one time and due to the watch system we ‘hot-bunk.'”

Racing on board the 70 ft racing yacht GoToBermuda, Heather is one of only two women among her eight-strong amateur crew undertaking a full circumnavigation of the globe under the guidance of a professional skipper and mate.

Other crew members will join the GoToBermuda team for different legs of the journey as they compete against 10 other crews.

The fleet will call at ports in Portugal, Uruguay, South Africa, Australia, China, the Philippines, Panama, the USA (Seattle and New York), Bermuda and Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland, before crossing the finishing line in London 11 months later.

* To sponsor Heather and read her blogs visit eastcheshirehospice.org/heather

Lifestyle Fitness Charity Spinathon

Posted on 8th August 2019 by Amy Chatwood

Cyclists were made to sweat during a Charity Spinathon which raised almost £1,300 for the Hospice.

Some 30 members of Lifestyle Fitness, based at Macclesfield College, took part in the three-hour marathon.

Over half the donation came from sponsorship raised by fitness enthusiasts through JustGiving pages.

Lifestyle Fitness has 1,000 members in Macclesfield where classes run from 6.30 am to 9.30 pm.

The company is part of the Hospice’s popular 500 Club in which members raise at least £500 each year over a three-year period.

Club Manager Jake McKie said: “East Cheshire Hospice was the charity chosen by our members to support last year. It’s a wonderful cause which we’re delighted to help and want to thank our members for their generous fundraising.”

The next challenge is to raise £1,000 from National Fitness Day on Wed, Sept 25, when the target is to get 100 members to join a one-hour circuit class.

If you would like to be part of our 500 Club, get in touch today kbowmar@echospice.org.uk or click here to find out more!

£1million donation from Proseal

Posted on 30th May 2019 by Amy Chatwood

One of the region’s best-performing companies is taking the opportunity to share its success with worthy local causes.

As part of its local community support programme, Adlington-based Proseal has donated £1 million, to East Cheshire Hospice for the care of people with life-limiting illnesses.

The donation to East Cheshire Hospice will help it to further extend its outreach projects and palliative care service, providing specialist medical treatment and holistic care for local people coping with life limiting illnesses, while continuing to deliver compassionate support and counselling for carers and relatives.

Karyn Johnston, East Cheshire Hospice Director, said on receipt of the gift “I am humbled to accept this generous donation from Proseal. As a small local charity, we rely on our community and corporate partners for more than 85% of our funding, so this represents a massive boost to our future plans. The team at Proseal have been generous supporters of the Hospice for a number of years, working alongside our amazing What Women Want supporter group.”

“On behalf of all the patients and families whose end of life experience will be improved by this gift, I say thank you.”

The Christie Cancer Centre Macclesfield is also receiving the same amount. This will undoubtedly make East Cheshire, and Macclesfield in particular, the centre of excellence in palliative and end of life care.

Proseal directors and co-founders Steve Malone and Robbie Hargreaves, who set up the company in 1998, say the donation is on behalf of all its employees, whose hard work and dedication have enabled it to make this important contribution.

“We have enjoyed immense success and growth in the 20 years since Proseal was established, and none of this could have been achieved without the fantastic support and commitment of everyone within the business.”

“Proseal therefore wanted to give something back to the local community. We chose the Christie Cancer Centre and East Cheshire Hospice as the recipients because of the vital work they do, which any of us at Proseal, as well as our families and friends, may have to call on at some point.”

“The Christie Cancer Centre and East Cheshire Hospice play vital roles in the local community,” says Steve and Robbie. “We hope our contributions will help both organisations continue their great work.”

Proseal designs and manufactures high quality food packaging machinery for the food industry. Since its inception in 1998, the company has grown into a global market leader in its sector, currently employing over 350 people in the UK and nearly 500 worldwide. Last year, Proseal won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.