Dr Moya Cole, from The Christie Hospital, informally approaches the Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend Dr William Greer, asking if local churches would join together to set up a hospice.

It took the considerable effort of dedicated volunteers to raise the funds needed to build the hospice. An appeal for £250,000 was launched and Manchester’s community took the cause to its heart.

Early fundraising initiatives included Granada Television’s offer in 1970 to open their Coronation Street outdoor street set to viewers on Bank Holiday weekends. Visitors were invited to donate a 10p ‘admission fee’ to walk the famous cobbled street, which brought in £3,000 for St Ann’s.

St Ann’s Hospice in Heald Green welcomed its first patients on 17 May 1971. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, officially opened the hospice in June 1971.

Thanks to the tremendous support of the Greater Manchester community, the appeal to build a second hospice reached its target of £600,000. The first patients were welcomed at the Little Hulton site on 9 April 1979 and, continuing the royal tradition, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne officially opened the hospice a month later.

The Trustees of St Ann’s Hospice secure an agreement to acquire the site adjacent to our current building and for the project to build a new building to commence.

Stockport Council grant planning permission for the hospice.

Thanks to our amazing supporters, we celebrated reaching the major milestone of raising £500,000 for our Build it Together appeal.

We celebrate with the local community and put the first spade in the ground for the building of the new hospice at a special event.

The Build it Together new hospice appeal reaches an amazing fundraising milestone of £1 million, thanks to the generosity of individuals and organisations in the local community and beyond. This also marks the halfway point in the public appeal.