Chestnut Tree House Inspiring fundraisers

Anna Jones Director of children services

The kindness, energy and dedication of our local community never fails to amaze me.

This week, I heard the story of Ross Fisher who, at 75, has certainly earned the right to put his feet up. Instead, the Felpham grandfather has decided to put his lifelong passion for boats to good use by rowing 309km from Big Ben to Felpham Sailing Club in his 60-yearold rowing boat. Ross was a commercial fisherman at Littlehampton for 15 years, was in the Coastguard for 20 years and has sailed across the Atlantic three times skippering a boat. Nevertheless, this is a huge undertaking. He expects to spend about seven days rowing – although that depends on the weather – and just to make it even more of a challenge, he will be sleeping on the beach! Another fundraising story that caught my eye recently involved 12 local men driving 3,800 through Namibia and Botswana in 4x4s, raising funds for seven charities including Chestnut Tree House. Their adventure this May follows a trip down the Amazon in kayaks last year, which also benefited Chestnut. It costs more than £4m each year to run Chestnut Tree House and care for local children and families who need hospice care. We receive less than 15 per cent of our funding from central government and, as costs continue to increase, we are more than ever dependent on the generosity of our community. And there are many other ways to help. Perhaps you could spare a few hours a week to work in one of our shops, you’d like to host a coffee morning, or you’d like to play our weekly lottery. These things all make a huge difference. Your kindness means we can be there for local families when they need it most. Thank you.