Hospice Appeal Pulls in the Cash...

Local affection and support for the names of Herriot and Lambert and the care they represent shone out last weekend.

The appeal by Herriot Hospice Homecare to meet the balance needed for the £1.7 million refurbishment of the Lambert Hospital reached its target and sailed way past.

It was a seemingly immense task – to raise £300,000 for the Hospice capital fund in just 36 hours, starting at 7am on a Sunday morning. And they did it with hours to spare.

All through the Sunday and into Monday donations poured in and the figure on the online equivalent of the appeal barometer went steadily up.

By just after 9am they passed £50,000, and it looked encouraging.

By the end of Sunday it had passed £200,000.

Shortly after 2pm on Monday their target was reached: £150,000 in donations matched by £150,000 from major sponsors including the Friends of the Lambert, Twisted and the National Farmers Union.

Key to the success of this massive campaign was a team of champions, local people and organizations who put on fund-raising events or just spread the word to family and friends.

Throughout the weekend the Herriot Hospice shop in Thirsk town centre was buzzing as people brought in their donations. “When you embark on something this big you always have your heart in your mouth,” said one organizer, “but by the end of Sunday we realized that we would probably be successful................

(To read the rest of this article go along to your nearest stockist and buy a copy of the paper)