Month: March 2025

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Sixth Form students give their time to Hospice shops

Seven students from Ashton Sixth Form College have spent some of their time volunteering recently in our Willow Wood Hospice charity shops.

Ahmed Cali, Adam Dixon, Armaan Hussain, Oliver Hutchfield, Nathan Nyoni, Alexandra Serban and Maurice Owhonda Utchay generously gave their time to support our retail operations.

The seven of them, all second-year A-Level Business students, gave a combined 350 hours volunteering at The Purchase and Donate (PAD) in Stalybridge, as well as at our Waterloo and Ashton-under-Lyne shops.

The students had to complete 40 hours of work experience each as part of their course, but they all ended up doing 50 instead – between 24th February and 3rd March.

Ahmed and Maurice volunteering at our Ashton town centre shop

Adam, 18, from Dukinfield admitted he didn’t know a lot about the Hospice beforehand. However, he learned a lot more during his time volunteering, including that the income generated from our charity shops directly supports patient services at the Hospice.

Adam commented on his time working at The PAD in Stalybridge: “It was fantastic. It helped me improve my confidence and other skills like communication and time management.

“When the delivery van came in, I helped move all of the sofas and cabinets into the store, and I carried items from the store into the van to deliver to customers. I also put donated items onto shelves and helped customers when they needed support.”

The work of the students not only supported the Hospice’s shops, but it also gave them opportunities to build their skills and gain more work experience.

Adam being interviewed at Ashton Sixth Form College by Ciaran Greenwood during his placement with the Hospice’s Communications team

Adam further commented on his future ambitions, seeking entrepreneurial goals: “I want to start sharing, like going into investments and start going from there. So just get a job somewhere, save up money and start investing it into various businesses.”

He enjoyed it so much that Adam is continuing his volunteering at Willow Wood, working at The PAD on Fridays during his free periods at college. We wish him and the rest of our amazing student volunteers the best of luck in their future endeavours.

Willow Wood Volunteer Services Manager, Lisa Pye, had this to say about the students’ efforts: “We are very thankful for the amazing support that the students at Ashton Sixth Form College have given us. Volunteers are vitally important to help support the work that Willow Wood Hospice does. We’ve had fantastic feedback from the retail managers about all of the hard work they have done, and we hope they enjoyed it and taken something from the experience.”

If you want to learn more about the volunteering opportunities that are available at Willow Wood Hospice, please visit www.willowwood.org.uk/volunteering to express your interest.

By Ciaran Greenwood

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LISTEN: Creme Egg Appeal success on BBC Radio Manchester

Our Events Lead, Tracey Schofield, appeared on BBC Radio Manchester on Thursday morning (27th March). 

Tracey spoke to Breakfast show host Joe McGrath about the success of our Creme Egg Appeal, as part of our Bunny Hop campaign.

Listen to the interview in full by clicking the play button below:

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Waterloo News hops to it for Willow Wood

Our heartfelt thanks go out to the team behind Waterloo News, who have once again shown amazing community spirit by supporting our Bunny Hop fundraiser.

Established in 2019 to provide residents in the Waterloo area of Ashton-under-Lyne with local updates, Waterloo News is a Facebook page run by dedicated locals Dave Howarth and Lee Woods.

Before Covid, they took over the page with a mission to not only share local news but also support good causes in the community.

Their efforts are further strengthened by Emma Jones from Perry Jones Funeral Services, located just a stone’s throw from our Clearance Outlet and Donation Centre, and close to our Waterloo shop.

Together, this dedicated team has been key in gathering Creme Egg donations for our Bunny Hop fundraiser for three consecutive years.

This year, they collected an impressive 445 eggs, bringing their overall total to over 1,400 eggs – which is also testament to the generosity of the wider Waterloo community.

The sweet treats are given to every child taking part as a reward for hopping for the Hospice.

“The Hospice’s Waterloo shop is local to us and we want to support local businesses and organisations as best we can,” said Dave.

Emma added: “I’m very aware of the donations the Hospice relies on to keep going and it’s great that we can support an organisation that’s very local to us.”

We are grateful for their ongoing support, which makes a difference to our fundraising efforts. Thank you to Dave, Lee and Emma – you truly embody the spirit of community!

To learn more about our Bunny Hop fundraiser and how you can get involved, click here.

EGG-CELLENT: Pictured are Emma Jones (left) from Perry Jones Funeral Services and Dave Howarth from Waterloo News (centre) delivering some Creme Eggs to Kellie Moulton, our Waterloo shop manager. 

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Dukinfield cyclist’s birthday bike ride for Willow Wood

A father-of-two from Dukinfield has cycled 60 miles for his 60th birthday to raise money for Willow Wood Hospice.

Ian Saxon, who retired in 2023 after 40 years working in environmental services at Tameside Council, peddled around the Greater Manchester area in support of his local hospice.

Ian, accompanied by his friends and family, started their ride at the iTrain gym in Dukinfield before traversing throughout Manchester, passing down the Fallowfield Loop, around Manchester Airport, and making their way past Jodrell Bank, Poynton and Romiley.

Instead of receiving gifts for his birthday, Ian asked people to donate to the Hospice. After his fantastic efforts on 9th March, over £1,200 has been raised so far!

Ian, who also has a granddaughter, said: “I always had a bike as a child. I’ve got very fond memories of cycling as a kid, and then I probably lost a little bit of interest whilst I was at university, but I soon got back into it and probably since then I’ve cycled continuously.”

Ian with his family and friends before they set off on their bike ride. Photo credit: Steve Giblin.

Experienced cyclist Ian has always felt a connection to the Hospice and has supported Willow Wood in the past, by previously peddling 50 miles for his 50th birthday and 40 miles for his 40th birthday.

Ian elaborated on his cycling adventures: “We’ve done some quite long trips. We’ve done Land’s End to John O’Groats twice. When I retired, me and my friend did a ride which we called from Home to Rome.”

As for Ian’s reasons for supporting the Hospice, he explained: “Someone described it to me, which really resonated with me, as Willow Wood for local people is something like a life insurance policy that you hope you never need to claim on.

“But if you need it, you need it local and we all need it to be there. We just hope we never need to use it. So that’s kind of stuck with me, and I know the value of it locally.”

Ian pictured in our beautiful Hospice gardens.

Ian didn’t do his fundraiser alone and he is grateful for the support he received.

“I want to thank my wife Mandy and our friend Bev for making coffee and sandwiches for everyone, as well as my friend and former colleague Steve Giblin for coming to take some photos.”

Lucy Ta’ati, Community Fundraiser at Willow Wood Hospice, commented: “We are incredibly grateful to Ian for his support to Willow Wood Hospice with his fantastic fundraiser. Donations are a valuable part of supporting the work the Hospice does, and support in any way is greatly appreciated. Well done, Ian!”

If you want more information about Ian’s fundraiser and you wish to donate, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/ian-saxon-3.

If you want to support the Hospice with a fundraiser of your own, please contact our Fundraising team by emailing fundraising@willowwood.org.uk or by calling 0161 330 7788.

By Ciaran Greenwood

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Hospice leaders urge MPs to support funding reform on Parliament visit

Our CEO Tracy Minshull and Clinical Director Nicola Cheetham went to Parliament yesterday (Tuesday) to ask MPs to support reforming the funding model for hospices.

During the event, the Greater Manchester Hospices Provider Collaborative asked MPs to sign a joint letter to the Minister of State for Health and Social Care.

The letter called for the Government’s new 10-year health plan to include improvements to palliative and end-of-life care, and a reformation of the current hospice funding model.

Currently £11.7bn is spent on health care for people in the last year of their life in the UK, with 80 per cent spent in hospitals and just four per cent on hospice care. Hospices in Greater Manchester care for around 10,000 patients every year.

Since 2020, hospice costs in Greater Manchester have risen by 33 per cent, with two-thirds of costs paid for by fundraising within the local community.

The Government announced just before Christmas that hospices in England will receive £100m over the next two years, which has been welcomed by Greater Manchester’s hospices.

However, it can only be spent on improvements such as to buildings, IT systems and outdoor spaces and does not cover day-to-day running costs.

Tracy and Nicola with other Greater Manchester hospice leaders outside Parliament

Tracy Minshull, Willow Wood Hospice CEO, commented: “Willow Wood Hospice has a vital role in providing compassionate, specialist care for any adult in our local community with a life-limiting illness.

“The current funding model is simply unsustainable. With rising costs and increasing demand, we urgently need a fairer, long-term solution to ensure hospices like ours can continue to support those who need us most.

“Meeting with some of our Greater Manchester MPs in Parliament was an important opportunity to highlight these challenges and call for meaningful change. We hope the Government will listen and take action to secure the future of hospice care.

“Thank you to Trish Cavanagh, from Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, who attended to support us as our locality lead.”

The Greater Manchester Hospices Provider Collaborative is a long-standing strategic partnership between the seven adult and two children’s hospices across the region’s 10 boroughs, who work closely together to improve the quality, access and sustainability of services.

The parliamentary event was sponsored by Makerfield MP Josh Simons.

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Willow Wood Enterprise Challenge raises over £12k

Willow Wood’s inaugural Enterprise Challenge initiative has helped to raise over £12,000 for the Hospice.

The Enterprise Challenge awards ceremony, which was held on Thursday 13th March at Clarendon Sixth Form College, celebrated the achievements of the local secondary schools that helped generate vital funds for the Hospice.

The schools who took part were All Saints Catholic College, Ashlea House School, St Thomas More RC College, Fairfield High School for Girls and St Damian’s RC Science College.

Hosted by Tameside Radio’s drivetime host Cameron Kennedy, the event had over 100 people in attendance, including the Civic Mayor of Tameside Councillor Betty Affleck and her Consort Declan Fitzpatrick.

The ten awards were presented by event sponsors, local business mentors, and Hospice patrons and trustees.

During their campaigns, pupils formed their own teams, each receiving £25 seed money to kickstart their fundraisers. They managed to grow their seed money into a larger sum, as well as utilising their creativity and entrepreneurial talents. Some of the pupils’ ideas included a car wash, selling loom bands, putting on a cinema, and holding a disco.

The overall winners were the Faith in Action team at St Thomas More RC Science College, who fully embraced the challenge and managed their seed money and reinvestment to raise a fantastic amount by building a relationship with their mentors and promoting some healthy competition between schools.

Paul, who was the Faith in Action team’s student leader, said on stage: “As a team, we planned two concerts, numerous sweet treat stalls and a sponsored run. We are extremely proud of raising over £1,200 to support the amazing work of Willow Wood Hospice. We want to thank all of Willow Wood and our sponsors Denton and Audenshaw Rotary, as well as Miss Hague and Mr Smith for supporting us.”

The main sponsors were Energy and Carbon Reduction Solutions Limited and the Union of Catholic Mothers in Stalybridge (St Peter’s and St Raphael’s Church) sponsored the awards evening.

Team sponsors and mentors were Inology IT, Denton and Audenshaw Rotary Club, Droylsden Glass, and Viking Office.

The awards and their winners were as follows:

  • Pioneer Fundraising Award – Ashlea House School
  • Innovation Award – St Damian’s RC Science College
  • Creative Arts Award – All Saints Catholic College (Year 11)
  • Market Insight Award – Fairfield High School for Girls
  • Sponsors Choice Award – All Saints Catholic College (Year 7)
  • Digital Impact Award – Ashlea House School
  • Strategic Investment Award – St Thomas More RC College (Faith in Action)
  • Social Enterprise Award – St Damian’s RC Science College
  • Endurance & Dedication Award – All Saints Catholic College (10W)
  • Overall Enterprise Challenge Award – St Thomas More (Faith in Action)

The guest speakers were Assistant Principal of Tameside College, Carl Shaw, and founder of Create & Craft Workshops, Cait Senior, who both gave inspiring speeches targeted to the young people in the audience.

St Damian’s RC Science College choir delivered an outstanding performance both before the ceremony and during the interval.

All of the schools and their pupils were celebrated for their incredible contributions to helping raise money for the Hospice.

Speaking about the event and how it went, Lucy Ta’ati, Community Fundraiser at Willow Wood Hospice, said: “I think it went really well, and it just shows when people come together – the participants, the staff at the schools, our lovely sponsors, trustees and patrons, and of course our fabulous host Cameron Kennedy – we can really make something special.

“I would like to thank everyone involved for their support – including Clarendon Sixth Form, Bhavna Parmar and Pam Mistry from The Innovation Hub at Tameside College, and Tesco Glossop and Tesco Stalybridge for donating refreshments.”

Community togetherness and support is of vital importance, and is a significant factor for raising awareness of the Hospice, based in Ashton-under-Lyne.

On this topic, Lucy added: “I think it’s massively important, and not just from a fundraising point of view. People out there need to know what services are available to them. It’s good for people to know that we’re there, we’re present in the community and people who are fundraising for us as well.

“It’s good for them to know that they are appreciated because without our third-party fundraisers and people helping us and supporting our events in the community, we wouldn’t be able to continue providing those services.”

Any teachers or leaders interested in their secondary school or youth group taking part in this year’s Enterprise Challenge can express their interest by visiting www.willowwood.org.uk/events/enterprise-challenge

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Willow Wood Day at Ashton United

Ashton United Football Club has organised a dedicated ‘Willow Wood Day’ to support the Hospice.

Their matchday on Saturday 29th March against Hebburn Town will be turned into a fun day at Hurst Cross with raffles, auctions and activities to enjoy – all while raising vital funds for Willow Wood Hospice.

Volunteers from Willow Wood will also be there with collection buckets and to provide more information about the Hospice to spectators.

Ahead of kick-off at 3pm, the club will open at midday on the day. There will be a darts competition event in the clubhouse and a raffle which will be drawn at half-time – with prizes including a signed Ashton United FC shirt.

There are also three hospitality packages still available for four people at a cost of £120 plus VAT – these include matchday tickets and pie and peas.

The club will be donating all profits from the match to the Hospice based in Ashton-under-Lyne, which provides specialist, compassionate and palliative care to patients from Tameside and Glossop with any life-limiting illness.

The co-chairmen of Ashton United have had a personal connection to the Hospice and wanted to support Willow Wood as part of the club’s ongoing work to support good causes in the community.

A spokesperson for the club said: “Ashton United FC, in conjunction with our charity arm Ashton United in the Community, work with many partners in the Tameside area to support good causes and promote health and wellbeing in our local community.

“Willow Wood Hospice are dependent on fundraising events and donations to survive and therefore we decided we would like to do something special to help.

“We have all been affected by family members requiring care and in fact Johnny Burke, the father/grandfather of our Co-Chairmen David and Jonathan Burke, who incidentally holds the record for the most appearances for Ashton United was recently cared for in Willow Wood before he unfortunately passed away and so this became even more personal for them and the club.

“We hope that by donating all profits from our game against Hebburn Town on Saturday 29th March we can make a real difference.

“We now need the support of local people, whether they support Ashton United or not, to come along to the game, get involved in the things that are going on and make the day a massive success.”

The Hospice says it is grateful for the support of the club, which will help make a difference.

“We would like to thank our friends at Ashton United for dedicating this special matchday to support us,” said Joanne Lees, Willow Wood’s Partnership Development Lead.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for us to help spread the word about what we do and raise awareness about the essential services we provide. We hope as many people as possible can attend and raise vital funds to support hospice care.”

Tickets for the match are £12 for adults, £8 for over-65s, students and concessions, and £1 for under-12s. They can be bought on the gate on the day or online in advance at ashtonunited.co.uk

Anyone interested in the remaining hospitality packages can contact andyc@ashtonunited.co.uk