A Thank you Reception at Canterbury's Pilgrims Hospice

A week or so ago I attended a reception to thank major contributors for the thousands of pounds they had raised in 2016. They included people who had done sponsored skydiving, zip wiring or running marathons, so I felt very humble having personally only raised a three figure sum. On the other hand I had helped organize & run an annual walk at which hundreds of participants had chipped in with a fiver or so, resulting in a total every year to match the one-off daredevils. As far as the charity is concerned all such fundraising is of equal merit.

It was good to learn about other fundraising activities, but I made sure to plug The Five Church Walk which received a lot of interest. What appeals is that (unless you decide to use one of our sponsorship forms) you don't have to go through the rigmarole of asking people to sponsor you, & then ask them for the money. You just turn up on the morning at any of the five churches, quickly fill in an entry form, hand over any amount from £5 upwards and set off for as far as you feel able. Couldn't be easier!

The latter part of the reception was a talk by the Pilgrims Hospice Chief Executive, and then chats with trustees & members oi staff identifiable by sunflower buttonholes. Among the things I learnt was that over 75% of running costs were funded by public fundraising and that the Canterbury, Ashford &Thanet Hospices plus at home support comprises over 1% of the total British hospice movement. No wonder it needs our support in raising ever more funds, so please publicize our website so that we get even more people walking on Mayday, 1st May 2017 (details being added in January).