St Barnabas delighted with £90,354 donation from Lincolnshire Co-op members

St Barnabas Hospice has received a donation of £90,354 from the Lincolnshire Co-op and its members through their Community Champions scheme.

St Barnabas was the chosen Champion in various locations in the county, including the city of Lincoln, East Lindsey, South Holland and other areas. Every time a member shopped in a Lincolnshire Co-op outlet between March and June, a donation was made to their local Champion.

Money was also raised through activities, staff and community fundraising events and collection boxes throughout spring. A total of £165,929 was raised for local hospices, with St Barnabas receiving the majority.

Rebecca Franks, Director of Patient Care at St Barnabas says: “We are so grateful to the Lincolnshire Co-op and all its supporters for this incredible donation. It will make a huge difference in the care we provide.

“To give an indication of how far this money will go, £896 pays for one day of a patient’s stay in our Hospice for specialist end–of-life care. We also offer our care and support in people’s own homes around the county, which comes at a cost of £18.84 per hour.

“Apart from vital medical care, we also provide wellbeing services such as counselling, bereavement support, welfare and benefits advice. £57.10 pays for our bereavement helpline to run for a day so we can give urgent support to those struggling with their grief.

“All our care and support are free of charge to the patient as we believe everyone should have access to high-quality, compassionate care when they need it.

“As a charity, we rely on the kind donations of local people, and we put that money right back into their own community. Annually we need to raise over £6.5million to continue providing our service, so this donation is very gratefully received.”

Sam Turner, Community Manager at Lincolnshire Co-op, said: “St Barnabas has been there for so many families in our community during some of their most difficult times, providing essential care and enabling terminally ill patients to live the remainder of their lives comfortably and with dignity.

“This funding has come directly from the community that they work so hard to support, making it even more special.

“Thank you so much to our amazing members, colleagues and customers, who have all contributed to this total by getting involved with fundraising, donating change or shopping with their dividend cards.”

To find out more about St Barnabas Hospice, the care services it provides and how to support the charity further, visit: www.stbarnabashospice.co.uk