Purple people to raise cash for Halton Haven
FUNDRAISERS are being encouraged to wear purple as part of an annual campaign for Halton Haven Hospice.
Residents, companies and groups across the area will Go Purple to generate money for the hospice on Barnfield Avenue in Murdishaw, Runcorn.
Sharon and Jenny Allan, a mother and daughter from Runcorn, are two of those who will be donning the colour to raise money as part of Forget Me Not Week.
Sharon said: “My mum, Shirley, spent the last four weeks of her life in the Haven. Her care there was outstanding. I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I became my mum’s daughter again and not just her carer. This was because of the excellent team that worked and supported my mum.”
Sharon – who works alongside her daughter Jenny at Homestead Nursery in Frodsham – wants to repay the hospice staff for the time they spent with her mum.
She said: “The staff were a great support network for myself and my family and nothing was too much to ask them.
“They gave my mum back her dignity and treated her with so much compassion and respect. Without the Haven we would have struggled to provide the care my mum needed. ●
“In return we cannot thank the nurses enough.”
The Forget Me Not Week fundraising campaign encourages people to do any purple-related fundraising to raise vital funds for the hospice.
Halton Haven’s community fundraising manager, Chris Andrews, said: “Sharon, Jenny and all the team at the nursery have got an exciting week lined up – there’s been talk of gunging staff, making cakes and everyone wearing purple! The beauty of the campaign is that it can be whatever you want it to be.
“Whether you would like to hold a coffee morning, a cake sale, a charity football tournament, or sponsored head shave, there’s always a way to make it purple for Forget Me Not Week.
“The money raised by local people during Forget Me Not Week is absolutely vital to us as a hospice.
“It is only because of everyone doing their bit that we are able to find the £1.25m shortfall we need every year to keep the hospice running.
“Without ordinary people from across Halton and surrounding areas raising and donating money, the hospice wouldn’t exist.” ● For more information on Forget Me Not Week contact Chris on 01928 712 728 or chris.andrews@ haltonhaven.co.uk or visit www. haltonhavenhospice.co.uk/go-purple