St Ann’s Hospice’s appeal for help to build a brand new hospice for the people of Greater Manchester has been given a generous boost thanks to the support of a local business.

The ambitious project, which will see St Ann’s Hospice replace its current outdated building on St Ann’s Road North in Heald Green with a purpose-built modern facility on land adjacent to its current site, has received a donation of £32,000 from Together, a specialist lender based at Cheadle Royal Business Park. The funding will pay for one of the state-of-the-art counselling rooms in the new build.

“At St Ann’s, our support isn’t just about physical care, it’s truly holistic, with emotional and psychological wellbeing services playing a hugely important part in the care we provide to patients and those closest to them. The counselling rooms in the new building will provide an opportunity for patients and their families, friends or carers to talk confidentially about any distress or difficulties they are experiencing. There will also be areas where we can support people when a loved one has died, giving them a comfortable and confidential space to discuss their thoughts and feelings. Demand is high for these services, and the new hospice in Heald Green will have a suite of three dedicated counselling rooms, self-contained to maintain privacy and ease of access. They will be designed to be light and airy, providing a calm and relaxed environment for the individual to be able to work through their feelings with our specialist, supportive team. We can’t thank Together enough for their amazing support. We really do appreciate it, and their generosity will make such a huge difference to the lives of local people. We’re really pleased they are happy to be part of this exciting project in our history – helping us to continue to provide world-class care right here in Greater Manchester.”
– Rachel McMillan, Chief Executive of St Ann’s Hospice

The team from Together chose St Ann’s as charity of the year in 2020, with Covid restrictions meaning their planned fundraising activity had to be rolled over to 2021 – including a group from the organisation taking on the Great Manchester Run as part of Team St Ann’s.

The business pledged to raise £32,000 for the hospice, and topped up money raised from ongoing activities with a donation to ensure that the charity could fund one of the counselling rooms.

“We’re really proud that we’ve been able to give this donation to St Ann’s to help the community around us. The hospice is close to the hearts of many of our colleagues and, as with all of Together’s other charities, we’re passionate about the work supported by our ‘Let’s Get Giving’ charity fundraising pillar. St Ann’s plans for a new facility, including the counselling suite, are impressive and will be a great asset to people in the local community affected by life-limiting illnesses.”
– Kevin Fisher, HR Director at Together

In addition to the counselling suite, the new hospice building will also comprise a 27-bed inpatient unit, including 21 en-suite bedrooms with access to private outdoor terraces.  The development will feature modern outpatient and day therapy services, offices, a coffee shop which will be open to the public, landscaped gardens, and improved car parking.

The new St Ann’s Hospice building has been designed with the environment in mind, being ecologically efficient, using the latest green initiatives including a green roof, PV panelling and grey water solutions. The car park will have electric charging points and plentiful room for bicycles.

“Our current building in Heald Green is more than 150 years old and is no longer fit for purpose. If we don’t create this new facility we are at real risk of having to close services in the future. The state-of-the-art hospice will ensure we can continue to serve our local communities now and for decades to come too. Local people with life-limiting illnesses deserve the very best care, and with the kind and generous support of organisations like Together we will be able to carry on providing specialist care from right here in Stockport. We are looking forward to starting to build later this year, so are really keen to hear from any other organisations, business or individuals who might also be able to provide much-needed support. Please do get in touch as we’d love you to be part of this exciting moment in the history of care provision in Greater Manchester.”
– Rachel McMillan, Chief Executive of St Ann’s Hospice

St Ann’s Hospice provides care from its sites in Heald Green and Little Hulton, as well as a range of community and outreach services.  It is one of the oldest and largest hospices in the UK, and celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.