Sizzling event raises vital funds for hospice

A fundraiser got all fired up for a charity BBQ event raising nearly £2,000 for St Catherine's Hospice.
Vicky Mills, her son and event helper Zak Chap, Jenni Mills, Cath Knox and Barbara White held a Ladies barbecue in aid of St CatherineÂ’s HospiceVicky Mills, her son and event helper Zak Chap, Jenni Mills, Cath Knox and Barbara White held a Ladies barbecue in aid of St CatherineÂ’s Hospice
Vicky Mills, her son and event helper Zak Chap, Jenni Mills, Cath Knox and Barbara White held a Ladies barbecue in aid of St CatherineÂ’s Hospice

Cath Knox wanted to bring family, friends and neighbours together for food, drinks and games for a worthy cause, so set about planning the ultimate girls’ night in at her home in Farington Moss.

Along with daughters Vicky and Jenni Mills, and her mum Barbara White, the girls pulled off a fun-filled bash featuring amazing raffle and auction prizes including a holiday to Spain

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Cath said: “We charged people £10 for food and Pimms, and we had a raffle and silent auction after lots of local businesses donated prizes.

“We contacted a few firms on Facebook and some heard about what we were doing just through word-of- mouth.

“One couple who heard about it have a villa in Spain and put that forward as a prize, for the winner to spend a week there.

“That was for the auction, and for the raffle we had plenty of prizes from people such as chocolates and Prosecco, and local businesses offered some great prizes

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including a family ticket from Preston North End, beauty treatments and meal vouchers.

“Around 20 people came, and even some who couldn’t make it donated money anyway. You realise when you organise something like this just how generous

people are.”

Vicky added: “Everyone had a good laugh and people really enjoyed the night –they’ve been asking us to do it again next year, so we’ll definitely look in to that.”

The family visited the Lostock Hall based hospice to present their donation and also bought in a special cake to share with patients accessing the charity’s Day Therapy services

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St Catherine’s fundraiser Rochelle Crichton said: “It’s fantastic to hear about the lengths people go to in order to support the charity, and we’re always so humbled

and grateful when people think of their own imaginative and fun ways to generate funds and raise awareness of the hospice.

“It’s also wonderful to hear of the amount of support they received from local businesses who were keen to donate prizes, and raising £1,185 from a garden party

is an incredible achievement.”

She added: “It costs £5m to run St Catherine’s every single year, and £3.7m of that comes from charitable fundraising and donations, so we’d like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the girls as well as their guests and all the people who donated money and prizes, which made this event such a success.

“Support like this goes a long way to helping us care for local people and their families when it matters most, so well done to everyone involved.”