Dunelm St Helens pitch in to restore Willowbrook Hospice after floods

As previously reported by the Star, Willowbrook Hopsice suffered catastrophic damage last month following the heavy thunderstorms that battered the borough.

With the Portico Lane building unable to withstand the heavy downpour in early July, gushes of water came through the roof and caused significant damage to the hospice's meeting room.

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The thunderstorms caused serious damage (Image: Kelly Nichols)

With heavy streams of water getting into other areas of the hospice as well as some resident's rooms, two patients were temporarily transferred to other rooms as staff tried to manage the situation.

Following the disaster, staff at the end-of-life hospice set up a fundraiser to help them buy back furniture and repair the damage caused by the storm.

With Willowbrook a much-loved hospice in the community, local residents pitched in to raise more than £2,600 for its restoration.

Dunelm staff delivered the donated products after the devastating flood (Image: Kelly Nichols)

Well known for its community-focused projects, the Dunelm St Helens branch also wanted to do what it could to help the situation and donated more than £2,000 worth of products to help bring the site back into use.

Over the past few weeks, Dunelm staff members have been delivering their products to restore the hospice's meeting rooms and quiet spaces.

The furniture has helped to restore the hospice's quiet rooms and meeting rooms (Image: Kelly Nichols)

Alun Owen, Executive Corporate Director at Willowbrook said: "We are so appreciative of the support from Dunelm in helping us get the hospice back to its previous calm environment.

"The quiet space has now been completed and has had fantastic feedback from patients, families, and staff.

"The new space has a huge impact on patient experience, and it is now so inviting and relaxing, thanks to Dunelm”.

Dunelm's summer projects gifted hundreds of gifts to struggling families (Image: Kelly Nichols)

Throughout summer, the St Helens Retail Park store has been showing further examples of its charitable efforts as more than 400 gifts were donated in its summer 'Delivering Joy' project.

To help families struggling during the cost of living crisis, staff at Dunelm asked people to purchase and donate items that have been requested by other customers in the store.

Working alongside community groups such as Teardrops and the Restore Project, the campaign helped families in need with free PE kits, summer clothes, objects for summer activities, or toys for the school holidays.

The Delivering Joy project delivered more than 400 gifts to families in need this summer (Image: Kelly Nichols)

Kelly Nichols, staff member at St Helens Dunelm, said: "I love running this campaign, and we'll soon be gearing up for our Christmas one, however, we do have some exciting projects in the pipeline for the very near future too.

"Once again, St Helens' response in donating time to purchase or donate the items on the tags was absolutely phenomenal, and yet again we topped the company for gifts received.

"Believe me when I say that everyone's little act of kindness has made the biggest of differences in somebody else's life."