Pals from the Dog & Rot have raised £115k
FROM having their hair cut off to making trifles, two Leek pensioners have raised £115,000 for the Douglas Macmillan Hospice.
They have now been jointly nominated for Fund-raiser of the Year in the Moorlands Heroes Awards.
Tanis Pickford, aged 71, and Gwen Alcock, aged 68, started their fund-raising 18 years ago after Tanis’s late husband, Dougy, was helped by the hospice.
They raise money through Leek Conservative Workingmen’s Club – known locally as ‘The Dog and Rot’ – where they are stewardesses.
Tanis said: “I’ve always helped charities, as everyone does, but then my husband was at the Dougie Mac and it was like walking into another world. I was amazed by the care and dignity given.
“There’s no way to thank the staff. They just think what they’re doing is normal.
“They’d ring me up every evening after I visited my husband, to make sure I’d got home, and they even visited me after my husband passed away.”
Tanis initially aimed for the hospice, but to raise collected £1,000 more than that with her first fund-raising evening.
Over the years Tanis and close friend Gwen have staged race nights, auctions, had sponsored hair cuts and regularly hold cake and trifle sales.
The pair will finally bring their fund-raising to a close in March 2019 when they retire from the workingmen’s club, where they have both worked for around 40 years.
However Tanis says she plans to volunteer in a charity shop.
The ladies were nominated by Maureen Railton, aged 74, a regular at the working men’s club.
Maureen said: “I think Tanis and Gwen should be recognised for everything they have done to raise money for the hospice, particularly as they will be retiring next year.
“They’ve worked so hard, week in and week out, with everything from football cards to race night