School friends hot foot it for charity!

Fire Walk to raise money for Rotherham Hospice

In November 2022 two friends, who met some 30 years ago in comprehensive school, are set to walk over hot coals to raise money for Rotherham Hospice to say thank you.

Charlotte Dimond and Elenor Gordon, both 46, are taking on the Fire Walk to say thank you for the compassion and care that Rotherham Hospice staff gave to Charlotte’s mum Lesley in December 2021 when she was taken into the Hospice for end of life care.

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Charlotte said: “You don’t really know lucky we are to have such an amazing place on our doorstep until you need it. The staff were all so wonderful and kind with mum and with all the family and we’ve been raising money throughout the year to say thank you.

“My brother Bri has done a half marathon and then he joined one of my other school friends Christina Mower and they took part in a sky dive parachute jump. My sister and brother-in-law have both done a tough mudder event so it was my turn really.

“I always said I’d walk over hot coals for mum and now here I am about to do so to say thank you for the care she received. I’m so pleased to be doing this with my friend Elenor at my side. I think my normal shuffling speed will be dialled up a notch or two!”

 

Sponsor Charlotte and Elenor for being brave here.

Please put Fire Walk next to your name on the donation. 

 

As a charity, Rotherham Hospice relies on our amazing community of supporters like Charlotte and Elenor to raise the £3 million it takes each year to keep providing vital end-of-life care to our Rotherham families. 

 

If you have been inspired to have a go yourself, you can sign up for the Fire Walk here.

 

The event costs £25 per person to take part and we are encouraging firewalkers to raise a minimum of £250.

Participants will undergo an hour of training with experts from Firewalk UK. When the fire has burned to red-hot embers reaching 1,200 degrees, the surface will be raked level ready for fundraisers to walk over the coals.

Firewalkers must be aged 18 or over to take part. Spectators are welcome to come and cheer on fire walkers – the more the merrier – but please leave your furry friends at home. There will be food and family-friendly entertainment too.

John Breckin appointed Ambassador for Rotherham Hospice

John Breckin Ambassador for Rotherham Hospice

The Hospice means so much to me. They were there for me and my family, just as they are for all Rotherham families.

John Breckin on Rotherham Hospice Tweet

Rotherham Hospice is thrilled to announce John Breckin, Rotherham United FC legend, as Ambassador for the Hospice.

John has contributed to the creation of some of our most popular events including the Midnight Memory Walk, Red Glove Day at Rotherham United’s football ground and his annual cricket match at Wickersley Old Village Cricket Club. Not only that, but John is keen to do more.

John Breckin midnight walk

John’s support for Rotherham Hospice is longstanding, having lost his wife at the Hospice in 2006, and his daughter attended the Sunbeams support group the Hospice offers to bereaved families. Both before and after his wife’s death, John has been a constant supporter of the Hospice, giving so much of his time to helping the Hospice stay running.

 

As Ambassador, John plans to continue to be a beacon in the community for the charity, encouraging everyone to take part in fundraising events, contribute what they can financially and donate their well-needed services to the Hospice.

 

John is a frequent friendly face in the Hospice, saying hello to staff and patients whenever he comes in, signing books for people on the ward and throwing ideas around the fundraising office. 

It was only fitting, therefore, that when we asked John what he would like to do to celebrate the announcement of him as our Rotherham Hospice Ambassador, he asked for a small gathering with Hospice staff on Hospice grounds.

“Thank you all for sharing today with me. The Hospice means so much to me. They were there for me and my family, just as they are for all Rotherham families. It’s an honour and I’ll do whatever I can to keep this place going,” John said, in his speech in our gardens on 1st September. “You, the staff, are the Hospice. You keep it going. Every time I come down, there’s smiles on your faces and it really does make people feel at home and welcome.”

When asked why we decided to make John Breckin our Ambassador, Stephen King, Director of Income Generation for Rotherham Hospice said;

“It’s not enough to just say thank you for all his fundraising efforts. We wanted to recognise John’s achievement and dedication by appointing him as ambassador for Rotherham Hospice. We are looking forward to flying the flag for Rotherham Hospice with John for years to come.”

Thank you, John, for all that you do! The Hospice wouldn’t be where it would be today without your support and everyone here is excited to work with you more in the future.

Read all about John Breckin's amazing story in his biography. All proceeds go to Rotherham Hospice
John Breckin Ambassador for Rotherham Hospice

Thank you for all your support at the Rotherham Show!

volunteer at Rotherham Show

Thank you to everyone who came by the Rotherham Hospice stand at this year’s Rotherham Show.

It was wonderful to meet so many supporters face to face, and to hear how Rotherham Hospice has touched your lives.

The Rotherham Show was your first chance to grab a Rotherham Hospice 2023 calendar, featuring beautiful local landmarks shot by our calendar photo competition winners. They did an amazing job showcasing what Rotherham has to offer. 

We also launched this year’s Christmas cards, and had an amazing array of bric-a-brac at bargain prices. 

If you missed out this time, limited stock of calendars, Christmas cards and diaries will be available in our charity shops and to buy online soon. Sign up to the Hospice email newsletter to find out when!

An absolutely enormous thank you goes out to our brilliant volunteers Batool, Fatima and Sam who helped man the Rotherham Hospice stand over the weekend. 

Our volunteers are a big part of what makes the Hospice such a special place. There are lots of different volunteering opportunities available to suit different skills and lifestyles. Find out more here.

We’d also like to thank our partners at Local Hospice Lottery who work tirelessly to support the Hospice through our lottery game. Playing Local Hospice Lottery is an easy way to support the Hospice, and each week somebody wins £2000 cash! It’s a win-win. Find out more and how to join Local Hospice Lottery here.

All proceeds from the Rotherham Show will go towards funding Rotherham Hospice’s vital end-of-life services, such as community nursing, the 14 bed In-Patient Unit and bereavement counselling. 

As a charity, Rotherham Hospice gets just 50% of its funding from the government, and needs to raise £3 million each year to keep supporting our Rotherham families. Thank you for your support!

7 ways to support Rotherham Hospice for FREE

7 easy ways to support Rotherham Hospice for free

Rotherham Hospice provides care & support to local families experiencing an end-of-life illness. As a charity, we rely on our amazing community to keep going, but we understand the cost of living crisis is making things tough for many people. 

Here are 7 ways you can support Rotherham Hospice for free!

1. Be a social star!

Help us reach more supporters by following, liking, commenting and sharing our posts on social media.

We don’t have a big budget to get our message out there, so by interacting with them, you’re really helping us get seen!

Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram

Follow us!

Smiles.Amazon logo

2. Smile.Amazon

Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase to Rotherham Hospice at no cost to you!

Whatever you’d usually buy off Amazon, shop via Smile.Amazon instead and choose Rotherham Hospice as your cause to fundraise by buying your every-day essentials.

3. EasyFundraising

Shop many of your favourite online retailers via EasyFundraising and in return for using their links while you shop online, they will make a donation to Rotherham Hospice at no cost to you.

Find out how to support Rotherham Hospice at EasyFundraising.org.uk.

EasyFundraising logo
Rotherham Hospice Charity Shop

4. Have a clear out

Donate your no longer needed clothes, toys & furniture to our charity shops.

Got lots to donate? Call our Town Centre shop to arrange a collection on 01709 367 802.

Learn more about the Rotherham Hospice shops here.

5. GiftAid it

Are you a UK taxpayer? You can Gift Aid donations of belongings, as well as cash. Completing a Gift Aid form in store adds 25% to the value of what you give. 

Once the items you donated have sold, we will tell you how much they raised and you then confirm that the money can be treated as a Gift Aid donation – paid for by the government, at no cost to you.

Gift Aid logo
event volunteers in red rotherham hospice t-shirts

6. Volunteer

Want to learn new skills? Meet new people? Contribute to your community?

Volunteering might be for you.

Rotherham Hospice has lots of opportunities, from shop assistant, to event volunteer, to gardener and more.

Contact us here: volunteering@rotherhamhospice.org.uk

7. Make a free will

Rotherham Hospice works with Make a Will Online who make it simple, safe and secure for our supporters to make a will and leave a gift to Rotherham Hospice.

Leaving a gift in your will helps us enormously in our future planning and costs you nothing now.

Find out how you could make a free* solicitor checked will here. *Limited number of free wills available each month.

Rotherham Hospice Care Day Hospice Community Therapy Health and Wellbeing Healthcare Counselling Bereavement Support Phone South Yorkshire Religious Support Chaplaincy Services

Why your support matters

Rotherham Hospice cares for families experiencing an end-of-life illness, both physically and emotionally. As a charity, Rotherham Hospice needs to raise £3 million each year to fund vital end-of-life services. We can’t do it without our amazing supporters like you. Thank you.

Millers Legends come together for Rotherham Hospice

Miller Legends night cheque presentation

Rotherham Hospice is more than grateful for the members of Rotherham’s community that dedicate their time to fundraise for us. One such member is Kev Johnson, a long-time supporter of Rotherham Hospice, Rotherham United fan and pillar of the Rotherham community.  

This month, Kev organised a ‘Millers Legends Night’ at Rotherham Rugby Club, where fans of Rotherham United could join a Q&A session with some of their favourite ex-players, enjoy live music from Damian Luke and the Sweet Beast, and have a meal of pie and peas kindly provided by the Rugby Club themselves. 

A big thank you to John Stiles for hosting the Q&A, interviewing the likes of Millers Legends John Breckin (pictured with Kev Johnson), Guy Branston, Mark Todd, Ronnie Moore and Ben Pringle.

The night raised an amazing total of £6000 through ticket sales, raffle tickets and an auction, which will help fund patient care and bereavement support for our Rotherham families. The event wouldn’t have been possible without its incredible sponsors – Eric Twigg Foods, Cascade Drainage and Rainworth Skoda – and the generosity of those that donated the raffle prizes and auction items. 

All the staff & volunteers at Rotherham Hospice would like to thank Kev Johnson for organising such a brilliant event, dedicating his time to putting it all together and making sure it ran as smoothly as it did.

 Kev has raised money for Rotherham Hospice before by raffling off a signed RUFC shirt and donating excess funds from Mark Smith’s signed Shearer shirt to the Hospice. Altogether he has raised almost £10,000 for the Hospice this year alone! 

millers legend night

When asked why he chooses to support Rotherham Hospice, Kev says, “it’s a charity that’s at the heart of our community.”

And he’s not stopping! Kev has even bigger plans for fundraising events to come, watch this space!

Has Kev inspired you to be a Hospice Hero? You could run a race, do a bake sale, take on a daredevil challenge (check out our Events Diary to see what’s on) or fundraise via your business. There are lots of ways to get involved, find out more on our fundraising page.

Summer Raffle Winners!

Summer raffle winners

Thank you to everyone who took part in Rotherham Hospice’s Summer Raffle. Together you raised over £24,000 for the Hospice – money which pays for vital care & support for our Rotherham families.

The winning numbers have been drawn and cheques are being sent out in the post. Can’t stand the suspense? Check below to see if you’ve got one of the winning numbers and a prize cheque is on its way to you!

£2000 – 19012

 

£500 – 31706 25

£250 – 107529 

£25 – 72124 

£25 – 92922 

£25 – 62983 

£25 – 46776 

£25 – 18887

£25 – 72902

£25 – 959 

£25 – 20894 

£25 – 40007 

£25 – 42682 

And finally, big congratulations to Ann Lawrence who scooped the top prize of £2000. Thanks for playing the Rotherham Hospice raffle and enjoy your winnings!

 

This was the last raffle run by Rotherham Hospice , but you still have the chance to win great cash prizes each and every week, plus Super Draws in March, September and December, by signing up to the Local Hospice Lottery in support of Rotherham Hospice. 

You can find out more here about how Local Hospice Lottery helps Rotherham Hospice.

Lottery at Rotherham Hospice
lottery play now button
Be Gamble Aware.org

Burrows Toyota donate a car to Rotherham Hospice

Toyota Burrows donate a car to Rotherham Hospice

If you know anything about Rotherham Hospice, you’ll know that our Community nurses are an essential part of our care. Bringing their care to your door is not an easy task, which is why a car is so important to help carry out the vital work they do. 

Due to the amazing generosity of Burrows Toyota, Rotherham Hospice doesn’t have to worry!  

On 18th July, Burrows donated a new car to the Rotherham Hospice Community Team to help them provide care to our Rotherham families need in their own homes. Burrows has been a supporter of the Hospice for over 5 years, donating cars each year so our Community nurses can continue their vital work.

When asked why Burrows decided to extend this helping hand to the Hospice, Steve Burrows said;

Rotherham Hospice Care Day Hospice Community Therapy Health and Wellbeing Healthcare Counselling Compliments, Comments & Complaints
Community nurses from Rotherham Hospice

“People often ask me why Burrows support Rotherham Hospice, and for me that’s an easy question to answer. The Hospice provides exceptional care for the people of Rotherham, and their families, at what can be one of the toughest times of their lives. If the use of a car helps provide that care to our local community, then Burrows are more than happy to continue to assist with that, as we have done for over 5 years.”

Steve Burrows Tweet

The impact on the Community team was immediate and positive. “Knowing we have a modern, reliable car available for nursing staff to visit patients in their homes is a massive help,” says Jayne Lowe, Deputy Director of Clinical Services at Rotherham Hospice. “Everyone in the Community team would like to thank Burrows on behalf of the Hospice, our patients and their families for their continuing support.”

As a charity-run hospice, Rotherham Hospice only receives half its funding from the government and needs to fundraise £3 million each year. Donations from local businesses such as Burrows Toyota ensures we can keep serving the people of Rotherham for years to come!

There are lots of ways you or your business can support Rotherham Hospice. Find out more about corporate partnerships here, or call the Fundraising Team on 01709 308 900.

Charity Golf Day is a Hole In One!

Flex Residential's Charity Golf Day Team

A huge thank you to Adam Fletcher and everyone at Flex Residential who organised the annual Flex Residential Charity Golf Day in aid of Rotherham Hospice. Teams were invited to enjoy Sitwell Golf Course in the most glorious weather, with a few special appearances including Paddy Kenny, Rob Kozluk, Chris Waddle, and David Hirst.

We’d also like to thank all corporate sponsors including Howdens, ACPR, DuoCall, Don Valley Windows, JPM Financial Management, and our wonderful volunteers who helped the day run smoothly. 

Adam is a wonderful supporter of Rotherham Hospice, with his charity golf day fast becoming an annual tradition. After establishing lettings agency Flex Residential, Adam wanted to support a local charity through his business. From speaking to his customers and associates, and visiting the Hospice himself, Adam could see how special Rotherham Hospice is to our community, ensuring people experiencing end-of-life illness get the best quality of life they can.

Adam says,

“From day one I’ve had so much support from the Hospice, it’s like we are a team and it means the world.”

Adam Fletcher at the Flex Residential Charity Golf Day
Winning Golf Day team France Financial
Congratulations to the winning team France Financial!

The final charity golf day fundraising  total was £5,610 – what a brilliant effort!

As a charity, Rotherham Hospice needs to raise £3 million each year to keep supporting our community at the time they need it most. 

It is only because of our amazing fundraisers like Adam that we are able to keep going.

If you would like to get involved in fundraising for Rotherham Hospice, there are lots of ways to help! Check out our Fundraising page for ideas, or contact us on 01709 308 900 to speak to the Fundraising Team.

HOWZAT?! RUFC and Wickersley OVCC play charity cricket match to raise money for Rotherham Hospice

Charity Cricket Match

Last Friday saw John Breckin’s annual charity cricket match between Rotherham United Football Club and Nigel Hatton’s Wickersley Old Village Cricket Club taking place. The event was, as always, free to attend, with people donating whatever they could in aid of Rotherham Hospice.

 After much crossing of fingers that the great British summer would cooperate, the weather just about held out and John Breckin’s men were ready to face Wickersley OVCC in what has affectionately become known as the Hospice Cup.

 2022 has been an amazing year for Rotherham United,Wickersley OVCC winning the Rotherham Hospice cup winning the Papa John Trophy and promotion to the EFL Championship, however it wasn’t to be this evening, as the Millers lost the Hospice Cup for the first time. Congratulations to Wickersley OVCC! Still, there were no hard feelings as both teams contributed massively to raising funds for Rotherham Hospice, a cause close to John and Nigel’s hearts.

Through donations, sponsorship, raffle tickets and a charity auction after the game, a brilliant total of £8,857.09 has been raised. 

Special thanks to our corporate sponsors Eric Twigg Foods (who donated all the Pukka Pies sold on the night), Burrows Motors, Dick Habbin, W Restaurant, Broadsword, ELR, Richard Roebuck, PA Entertainments, and Hume & Co. Having the support of our local business community is vital to ensuring Rotherham Hospice can keep supporting families for years to come. If you would like to find out more about how your business could support Rotherham Hospice, please check out our Corporate Partners page here.

"It's been an unbelievable night!...Everybody has turned out and they've been so generous. Especially in these hard times, I can't thank people enough."

John Breckin, Rotherham United FC Honorary Life President and Rotherham Hospice supporter Tweet

 As a charity, Rotherham Hospice needs to raise £3 million each year to continue providing vital end-of-life care and support to our local community. Everyone at the Hospice would like to thank John Breckin, Nigel Hatton, and all those who generously donated their time, effort and money to make this event a great success. If you would like to contribute, you can donate to Rotherham Hospice here.

The last word from John:

"At the end of the day, it's for the Hospice. Hopefully you don't need it, but if you do need it, it's there for you. It belongs to us people of Rotherham and we must keep it going."

John Breckin, Rotherham United FC Honorary Life President and Rotherham Hospice supporter Tweet

Rotherham Hospice joins forces with Local Hospice Lottery to raise more than £1,000,000 over the next five years!

local hospice lottery at Rotherham Hospice

Rotherham Hospice are delighted to announce the launch of a brand-new partnership that will significantly increase lottery income for the Hospice over the coming years. In fact, through Rotherham Hospice ceasing their existing lottery and choosing to work with Local Hospice Lottery instead, more than £1million will be raised for local care over the next five years alone!

 

Local Hospice Lottery is a not-for-profit, hospice owned society lottery and from 6th June 2022, Rotherham Hospice is one of 29 hospices throughout Great Britain benefitting from the proceeds raised by its weekly draws. This regular and reliable income will make a big difference to the amount of exceptional care that can be provided to people affected by terminal illnesses across Rotherham.

 

Taking part in the Lottery is an easy, affordable and fun way to help Rotherham Hospice to keep caring locally and anyone can get involved by joining online now!

 

“Rotherham Hospice has been providing vital care and support to the people of Rotherham since 1994”, said Stephen King, Director of Income Generation. “As a charity, we need to raise £3 million each year, and lottery income plays a huge part in reaching our target. We’re so excited to work with Local Hospice Lottery and help ensure the future of the Hospice for years to come. By playing the Lottery in support of Rotherham Hospice, you could win some amazing prizes too!”

lottery play now button

By sharing management costs and overheads, Local Hospice Lottery’s innovative and collaborative model ensures that as much money as possible can be passed to hospice care, whilst also giving players the opportunity to win in a larger prize fund too.

 

For each £1 entry in the weekly draw, Local Hospice Lottery will give between 60% and 80% of profits from individuals playing in support of Rotherham Hospice to Rotherham Hospice. This is significantly more than most other society lotteries (NB: as a comparison, People’s Postcode Lottery passes 32p in every £1 to the good cause, The Health Lottery donates 26p and the National Lottery gives just 21p)  and to date, Local Hospice Lottery has raised over £43million for hospice care across Great Britain. The organisation was also named ‘Lottery operator of the Year’ by The Lotteries Council in 2018.

 

Rotherham Hospice considered various options when deciding how to develop the income stream from their existing lottery and after all due consideration, decided that joining the Local Hospice Lottery was the best option for both the Hospice and its supporters. Rotherham Hospice will now benefit from receiving more from every £1 entry than they did previously – and the more local people that play – the more they will receive!

 

Anyone aged 18 or over can join the Local Hospice Lottery and play in support of Rotherham Hospice and have a great chance to win as they help the Hospice to keep caring for local families in need. Membership costs just £5 per month and there are currently 201 cash prizes to be won every week:

  • Guaranteed £2,000 prize
  • A £1,000 rollover prize (which can reach as high as £25,000!)
  • A £100 prize
  • 8 x £25 prizes
  • Plus 190 x £10 prizes

That’s a total weekly prize fund of £5,200 – the largest of any hospice lottery!

 

There are also three Super Draws that take place every year, giving players the chance to win an additional guaranteed top prize of an incredible £10,000 every March, September and December!!

When asked what Rotherham Hospice means to her family, Amanda, whose husband David sadly passed away at the Hospice aged 55 after bravely fighting a brain tumour for a number of years, says,

“After times that can only be described as ‘endured’, we felt an immediate connection with Joanne, our specialist nurse at Rotherham Hospice. David looked forward to all the home visits and thoroughly enjoyed spending a day a week attending the Day Ward.

“I can’t praise or thank the team that took care ofRotherham Hospice Care Day Hospice Community Therapy Health and Wellbeing Healthcare Counselling Bereavement Support Phone South Yorkshire Regular The Challinor StoryDavid, highly enough. Everyone we came into contact with was friendly, caring, thoughtful, professional and sensitive. I have no doubt in my mind that David got to see his grandson born and christened, his daughter married and his son turn 25, all as a result of the amazing care we had in place.”

 

The income raised through this new partnership will play a vital part in enabling Rotherham Hospice to keep caring for local families like David’s, both now and in the future too.

 

To help recruit new players and raise more money, a team of paid fundraisers will be working in the local area in the coming months – both door-to-door and at venues – offering local people the opportunity to sign up to the Lottery. Each member of the team will be wearing a branded uniform and have a Local Hospice Lottery photo identity card. If you would like to view photos of the fundraisers, or are interested in becoming a paid fundraiser yourself, find out more here.