Midland Heart employees raise funds for hospice.
Completing the Birmingham International Marathon, abseiling down one of the city’s hotels and a series of traditional Gaelic Ceilidh’s were among a host of activities undertaken by staff at Midland Heart in aid of Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice.
The housing association handed over a grand total of £15,500 to help people receiving palliative care from the hospice on site or in the community as well as ongoing support offered to their families.
Employees at Midland Heart chose Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice as their chosen charity for 2017/18 and CEO Ruth Cooke – who ran a half marathon to help boost funds – presented a cheque to the hospice’s CEO Tina Swani.
Ricky Burt, employee engagement and wellbeing advisor, said: “Staff really got into the spirit of fundraising and engaged in activities the hospice arranged. They challenged themselves with sponsored events and showed huge generosity, contributing to our small fundraisers such as bake sales and raffles. “This is the first year we have supported just one local charity, enabling us to better engage our staff in the cause, raise more money, and see the positive impact the funds will have. The new approach has worked really well.”
Staff fundraising activities raised just over £10,500, with Midland Heart contributing a further £5,000 in fund-matching, which included donations of £1 for every employee engagement survey completed and received.
Midland Heart has just announced it has chosen Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice as its charity partner for the second year running with staff voting for five local causes up for selection.
Pamela Hodgetts, corporate partnerships co-ordinator at the hospice, commented: “The relationship between Midland Heart and the hospice has grown and evolved into a very exciting partnership. Not only has it resulted in an amazing £15,500 being raised for hospice care, but it has increased staff engagement, raised awareness and laid foundations for future projects. We are very excited to see what a second year will bring.”
Added Ricky: “As we have supported the hospice throughout 2017/18, we have established a great working relationship. Staff achieved phenomenal results with their fundraising, but the partnership went beyond raising money to include knowledge sharing between teams at the hospice and Midland Heart. We look forward to continuing to build on this as we work together in the year ahead.”
For more about the services Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice provide or to find out how to support its work, visit www.BirminghamHospice.org.uk.