Chief Executive Rachel McMillan announces a milestone in making our new hospice a reality.

I’m delighted to say that thanks to the wonderful generosity of our supporters, St Ann’s has now raised £500,000 towards it’s Build It Together appeal to build our new Heald Green hospice. There’s still a lot of fundraising left to do, but we are that bit closer to making our new hospice a reality. 

Within that big number of half a million pounds are lots of individual acts of kindness and generosity – people have run for us, walked for us, baked cakes for us and of course donated directly to us too!

Depending on where you live, you may not know that St Ann’s has two hospices in Greater Manchester – one in Little Hulton, Salford and one in Heald Green, Stockport. Understandably, most people know and care deeply about the hospice that is closest to where they live – especially if it was where we cared for a loved one in their final days. Both of our hospice sites are hugely important to us as we plan for the future care needs of Greater Manchester and parts of Cheshire and look to safeguard hospice care for future generations. 

Our existing Heald Green hospice has served us well, but it was never intended to be a hospice at all – it was originally a school. And at over 150 years old, and with Victorian plumbing and a roof that often needs patching up, we cannot keep making do and mending for much longer.   

As you might expect, many of the donations we have received to our Build It Together appeal for a new hospice have been made in memory of loved ones. Below are just a small sample of the lovely messages we have received. We are lucky to receive many messages like this every day and as Chief Executive an important part of my role is to make sure that we never take for granted the special place that St Ann’s has in the hearts of our supporters and local community. 

I would like to thank St Ann’s for the end-of-life care they gave to my sister. They made her last days as pain-free and as pleasant as possible. She was no longer afraid to die. Thank you.

We thought she had longer. Sadly, it was only a month. During those last four weeks the care received was exemplary delivered with compassion, dedication, tenderness and when possible, even humour. Providing us both with what we needed.

The hospice must continue! My wife spent three weeks at St Ann’s Little Hulton in early 2017 whilst a medication plan was devised for her. I looked after her at home then for six months until she died. It was her wish to die at home.

It has been touching that people from across Greater Manchester have been donating to our appeal – including people who live nearer to our Little Hulton hospice. Our hope is that our new purpose-built hospice will transform end-of-life care provision for people not just in Stockport, but across Greater Manchester.  

In total, building the new hospice will cost around £21.5million, which includes buying the land next door to our existing hospice site. This will be money well spent. Unlike our more modern hospice in Little Hulton, Heald Green has very few private bedrooms for patients and very limited outdoor space. The new hospice will include private bedrooms for our patients so they and their loved ones can have the privacy they deserve at this important time. We are taking care to build our new hospice into the existing landscape – meaning there will be much bigger gardens, and lovely mature trees surrounding the hospice building. A suitable environment is such an important part of feeling comfortable and that is why we at St Ann’s our working so hard to make the new hospice a reality. 

 We are so grateful to each and every person who donates to our appeal and helps us to get one step closer to our new hospice becoming a reality. Especially in this current economic climate, we cannot thank you enough for your support. 

If we are to reach our demanding fundraising target of needing to raise at least another £1.5 million, the ongoing help of the community and businesses from across Greater Manchester will also be crucial. So, if a company, school or community group you know or work for has not already decided on a charity to support in the year ahead, our Fundraising Team would be delighted to hear from you! 

The next step in our plans is to complete the purchase of the land next door to our existing hospice. Expect more news on that in the spring! 

 Meanwhile, you can support our appeal by donating here or by phoning 0161 498 3631.