THERE are just a few days left to cast your vote for Willowbrook Hospice and help them take home a share of £16,000.
It costs £4.8million to run Willowbrook Hospice every year, which is around £13,000 a day, every day, to provide all the services across the organisation.
Since it opened in 1997, more than 10,000 patients with life limiting or terminal illnesses have been resident at the hospice and as a charity, the hos
Willowbrook Hospice is St Helens’ representative in our Cash for Charities campaign.
Our parent company’s charitable arm, The Gannett Foundation, is providing £128k in cash to support local charities across the country and we have a £16,000 share to distribute across the north west.
You have until this Sunday, November 20 to collect tokens printed inside the St Helens Star which can then be sent to collections across the area or posted in to us.
Each token collected will be used to allocate the cash to the nominated charity – so if Willowbrook Hospice collects 50 per cent of all tokens collected it will receive 50 per cent of the £16,000.
The relative of one Willowbrook patient remembers how the hospice cared for the whole family when their mum was in her final days.
They said: “Mum became unwell in December 2020 with infection induced sepsis and vasculitis which impacted her kidneys.
“She wasn’t a candidate for dialysis and her prognosis was terminal with no treatment other than to manage the horrific symptoms kidney failure causes.
“As mum’s health deteriorated, we struggled to keep her comfortable and pain-free yet couldn’t bear for her to go back to hospital.
“A hospice wasn’t something we had considered but Willowbrook made mum comfortable and her room had a lovely view of the gardens.
“Staff took time to talk to mum and I knew we had made the right decision.
“At Willowbrook, it’s not just the patient they look after – my dad and the rest of our family were treated so well and we are eternally grateful for the care provided, which made mum’s last two weeks as comfortable and pain-free as possible.
“Everyone should be able to access this standard of care at the end of their life and my only regret is that we didn’t utilise the amazing service sooner.”
Shelagh Parkinson has been part of the Willowbrook Hospice family for more than a decade.
After retiring from full time work in 2012 she decided to volunteer in the outpatient department at Cedarwood before moving to the warehouse in Sutton for the hospice’s retail sector.
Shelagh said: “When I was working in the warehouse, I’d spend one morning a week sorting donations of bric-a-brac, pricing and displaying items and bagging some great bargains!
“I met some wonderful people, many of which became great friends, and I also helped in the admin office for half a day each week.
“I’m now based at The Living Well, counting money for the café and shop banking as well as processing Gift Aid forms.
“I enjoy my work and it gives me focus.
“I feel valued and appreciated and I’m always meeting new people and making new friends.
“I feel my contribution, albeit small, is of benefit to the running of Willowbrook Hospice.
“It is an essential organisation for St Helens and Knowsley and so many people have benefitted directly from the care provided, whether as a patient or when losing a loved one.”
Any funding from The Gannett Foundation will go straight towards supporting the care for patients at the hospice.
To get this week’s token turn to page 35 in the St Helens Star.
The deadline for votes is Sunday, November 20.
You can post your tokens or drop them off at collection points which are located at the following places:
- Willowbrook Hospice, Portico Lane, Prescot
- Willowbrook Shop, 9 Dane Court, Weaver Avenue, Rainhill, L34 4LU
- Willowbrook Shop, Prescot Shopping Centre, Prescot, L34 5GA
- The Living Well, Willowbrook, Alexandra House, Borough Road, St Helens, WA10 3RN
- Willowbrook Shop, St Mary’s Arcade, Church Street, St Helens, WA10 1AR
- Willowbrook Shop and Donation Centre, Sutton Road, St Helens, WA9 3DZ
- Morrison’s, Baxters Lane, St Helens, WA9 3DY
- Willowbrook Shop, Unit 8, 4 Acre Shopping Centre, St Helens, WA9 4BZ
- Willowbrook Shop, 16A Church Road, Rainford, WA11 8HE
- Willowbrook Shop, 12 The Croft, Stockbridge Village, Knowsley, L28 1NR
- Willowbrook Shop, 216-218 Main Street, Billinge, WN5 7PE
- Tesco Extra, Linkway, St Helens, WA9 3AL
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