Bolton Hospice donors meet after major fundraising success

The Making Every Moment Count Campaign managed to raise over £214,000 to help the hospice run its vital services, more than double the £100,000 goal.

The campaign was ‘match funded’, meaning that for every £1 raised, a local business or organisation would donate another £1, effectively doubling the total raised.

Kathryn Willet offering thanks to backers and champions (Image: Dan Dougherty)

This was something the hospice had never tried before, and the success took them by surprise.

Kathryn Willett is the relations manager for the hospice.

“What you have all achieved is amazing,” she said, in a speech at the event.

“I couldn’t wish for better supporters – from the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank you enough.

“I still can’t get over it!”

The celebration event brought together donors and matchers for the first time, giving them the chance to meet the generous people who helped double their generous donations.

Hospice exec Leigh Vallance giving a speech thanking everyone for their generosity (Image: Dan Dougherty)

The donations were made over a 36-hour period.

They thought they’d be ok with four people on the phones, but this turned out to be an underestimation of local generosity.

“We were on the phones from nine o’clock to four o’clock,” said volunteer Anne Davison, “and we were dumbstruck with how many calls we were getting and how much money people were donating.

“We raised £214,000, and that doesn’t even include Giftaid.”

But this is not the only money the hospice will raise this year. In fact, £5.5m of the hospice’s annual £7m running cost comes from donations.

This is why the hospice is always thankful to the people that help keep them afloat, people like the Cunningham family, who estimate they have raised over £10,000 for the hospice over the years.

The celebration evening took place on March 26 (Image: Dan Dougherty)

Mark Cunningham and his daughter, former Miss Northwest Christina Cunningham, have been raising money for the hospice for years.

The two said: “It’s something we’d done for a long time, but we never expected we’d have to use it.

“It’s one of those things where you don’t think about it, but when you need it, you can’t live without it.”

It wasn’t until last year that they had to use the service themselves.

The evening’s spread (Image: Dan Dougherty)

“It was grandpa Joe,” Christina said, referring to Joseph Cunningham, her paternal grandfather, and Mark’s dad.

“None of us knew he had cancer at the time, it was all so quick.”

Joseph – a former member of the Cottontown Chorus – was moved quickly into the hospice.

“At first he was unsure about it, but soon he was moving things around, reorganising things, putting up pictures.”

Muntazir Dipoti, who volunteers for the hospice, trying to raise its profile amongst the Muslim community (Image: Dan Dougherty)

Although suffering from dementia, Joe was still able to remember the words from his old Cottontown Chorus performances after an old choir buddy came to visit.

They played a Youtube video of their MGM Grand performance in Las Vegas.

Mark said: “His voice wasn’t quite there, but he still had the rhythm of the words.

“Any time his friend made a mistake, Joe would raise his hand telling him ‘stop!’”

The Cunninghams were extremely grateful for how the hospice allowed them all to navigate Joe’s last days.

“We can’t thank the hospice enough – they made all of us feel at home,” said Christina.

Muntazir Dipoti and hospice relationships manager Kathryn Willett (Image: Dan Dougherty)

“He could see his great-granddaughter playing outside his window in the garden – you wouldn’t really get that in a hospital, where it’s more regimented.

One of the family’s last acts was to visit Joe to let him know that Christina was pregnant, and that he was about to have a great-grandson.

“We went to see him at the weekend,” said Christina, “and on Monday he died.”

Christina’s son’s was named ‘Joseph’ in his great grandfather’s honour, making him Theodore Joseph Cunningham-Jones.

“The important thing is that it allowed him to die as himself – he didn’t die as sick Joe, he died as Joe Cunningham.”