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Rotary club’s year-long hospice appeal tops £40,000

Rotary club’s year-long hospice appeal tops £40,000

At the beginning of his term of office as President of Winchester Rotary, Les Haswell made the Winchester Hospice Appeal his main charity for the year. Now, the efforts of the club has seen the fundraising figure top £40,000.

Plans to provide a hospice in Winchester, Hampshire, have received the full fundraising support of the city’s Rotary club.

This past year, Winchester Rotary has been heavily involved with fund-raising for new hospice on the site of the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, and which is being led by the Hampshire Hospitals’ NHS Foundation Trust.

With over £3 million needed to convert Burrell House into a place which feels more like a home than a hospital for its patients and their families, the partnership with Winchester Rotary is helping the project get closer to its aim of opening the doors to the hospice within the next year.

The hospice will provide specialist end-of-life care both on-site and in the community.

winchester hospice

£10,000 was collected for Winchester Hospice by fundraisers who scaled the 1,000 meter Mount Snowdon

As well as 10 inpatient beds, Winchester Hospice will provide a hospice at home service, supporting patients who wish to remain in their own home when they are in the last few weeks of their life, and space for day therapy services and outpatient facilities.

With no hospice currently situated in the city, Winchester Hospice will mean that patients and their families spend less time travelling to receive care or visit a loved one, and more time enjoying special moments together.

For the Rotarians, the major event of the year was a Masquerade Ball at the Winchester Guildhall last December which raised over £24,000.

Earlier, in August 2018, a group of hardy members and friends successfully scaled Snowdon in atrocious weather conditions, raising £10,000.

With no hospice currently situated in the city, Winchester Hospice will mean that patients and their families spend less time travelling to receive care or visit a loved one.”

A number of smaller events, including a sponsored viewing and auction at a local art gallery brought the total raised by Winchester Rotary for the Hospice Appeal during Les Haswell’s Presidential year to £40,000 – and, in traditional Rotary style, a group of members accompanied Les as he presented a giant cheque to the hospice appeal trustees.

Winchester Rotary’s support for the hospice will continue and a number of projects are in the pipeline, as Les continues to project manage further initiatives, even though he has completed his Presidential year.