Double cash delight for hospices

Derian House donation, from left, Redrow's Steve Greenhalgh, Julie Atherton, Susie Poppitt from Derian House, Redrow sales director Claire Jarvis, Georgina Cox and Kay Hepson

Two hospices are recovering from the surprise of receiving a bumper boost from homebuilder Redrow – and planning how to spend their windfall.St Catherine’s Hospice and Derian House Children’s Hospice have both been given cheques for more than Â£20,000 after fantastic fund-raising events throughout the last year.Stephen Greenhalgh, chief executive for St Catherine’s, in Lostock Hall, said: “Over the years we have been amazed and impressed by the generosity of Redrow Homes and once again they have simply taken our breath away.“We had no idea of the amount being donated and when we saw the size of the cheque we were overwhelmed.”Susie Poppitt, head of fund-raising at Derian House Children’s Hospice, said: “We were absolutely overwhelmed to receive such an amazing donation, in fact the phenomenal amount simply took our breath away! The Redrow team worked really hard with the events to raise money to help us and we are so very grateful.”The majority of the money was raised through a charity ball held earlier this year, but money was also raised by the developer with a Sportsman’s Dinner and a Charity Golf Day, all of which were supported by staff, suppliers and sub-contractors.Derian House will use some of the Â£21,820 to go towards the general running of the Chorley children’s hospice, which supports more than 250 families across Lancashire who have a child with a life shortening illness and a further 150 who are receiving bereavement support. She added: “We are currently looking to expand our existing Derian At Home facility, which provides care and support in the family home, but there are other projects we are working on too. We now need to prioritise the best use of this fantastic amount of money which is a wonderful dilemma to have.”Stephen, at St Catherine’s Hospice, said: “We intend to use this money towards improving our in-patient unit facility that is in need of refurbishment. It’s our aim to ensure that all our beds are used as fully as possible. To achieve that puts great demand on our medical and nursing team but it means we can make the best use of the facility and help as many people as possible. The support of Redrow makes a massive difference to our patients and their loved ones”Steve Greenhalgh, managing director for Redrow’s Lancashire housing division, based at Buckshaw Village, added: “The Redrow team has been absolutely fantastic – they’ve really thrown themselves into raising money for St Catherine’s Hospice and Derian House Children’s Hospice over several years and the amount they’ve raised is staggering.“My thanks of course go to our wonderful workforce, our suppliers and our sub-contractors, who support these events. Moreover, however, praise must go to these two marvellous charities and those who work tirelessly for them, to make memories and lives better for people with life-threatening illnesses and their families.“What they do really is incredible and we are proud and privileged to have such special links with them.”