Hospice cash plea as the crunch bites

PLEA for funds . . . Brian Hurst

THE credit crunch has hit hard at Dr Kershaw’s Hospice, forcing fundraisers to make a desperate plea for help.

Donations have fallen by a massive 40 per cent, turning the already difficult task of finding the £3,500 a day to keep the hospice running into an almost impossible feat.

Appeals manager Brian Hurst called on staunch supporters to pull out all the stops to help it reach the target, and pledged hospice services would not be affected by its plight.

But, he said, it was in desperate need for people to keep donating money.

He said: “The people of Oldham have always supported us, and I can only hope they will rally round when they realise the situation we are in.

“General donations are well down already this year since December, and there is no doubt we are suffering because of the credit crunch.”

It costs an annual £1.7 million to run the hospice, and fundraisers face the enormous task of raising £1.3 million towards that figure every single year.




BEADS amateur dramatic society is one of the first to respond to the plea for help, and has named Dr Kershaw’s its charity for the year.



It will donate 20 per cent of the proceeds of this season’s productions to the cause — four in all, a children’s show, a play, a musical and a pantomime, which will be staged in Denshaw Village Hall.

Chairman of the group, Jayne Fisher, said she hoped it would bring in several hundred pounds for Dr Kershaw’s.

She has helped raise money for the hospice in the past as an employee of BAe Systems, Chadderton, and said she was shocked when a fundraising dinner organised by the hospice was cancelled at the last minute towards the end of last year.

She said: “We had a table booked at work, and I couldn’t believe it. Brian never, ever, cancels fundraising events, and I knew then that he was struggling.

“Our donation from BEADS will not be the thousands needed to keep the hospice going, but it’s a start.”

Brian welcomed the support, and said: “I hope more groups will make the hospice their charity for 12 months or longer.”

BEADS first production is a musical, “Songs from the Shows,” which runs from May 7-9. Tickets are available from Jayne on 07801 716551 or from Joanne Hewitt on 07931 470745.




Other ways you can support the hospice:



::Pull on your walking shoes to tackle the seven mile sponsored Hospice to Hospice walk between Dr Kershaw’s at Royton and Rochdale’s Springhill Hospice on Sunday, April 26 (£5 registration fee).

::Bring and Buy sale at the hospice, in Turf Lane, Saturday, March 7.

::Don your best bib and tucker for a dinner dance at Smokies Park Hotel, Oldham, on Saturday, March 14, with the Planet ABBA tribute band — fundraisers still have four tables of ten left to sell, and individual tickets are £30 each.

For more details or to find out how you can help, contact the appeals office on 0161-624 9984.