April News round up

April News Round-up – St David’s Hospice Care

Charity Netball Tournament returns to raise further vital funds

At the beginning of April, incredible supporter Emily hosted a Charity Netball Tournament in aid of the hospice. The day was another huge success, with 25 teams and over £1,000 raised adding to an already phenomenal fundraising total from Emily. A big thank
you also to Keystone Law for £250 sponsorship for the day!

A helpful addition of free Tony's Chocolate and Red Bull helped players through the day in the glorious sunshine! With prizes for best dressed, first and second team. Emily is a hugely valued, dedicated fundraiser who has supported the hospice for many years - in loving memory of mum, Sue. Thank you for being a Hospice Hero Emily.

Julie's mighty Challenge Trek to Petra

Fantastic supporter Julie has just recently returned from a monumental self-funded challenge Trek to Petra. 

Over 5 days, Julie trekked around 14-16 Kilometres per day along part of the Jordan Trail across deserts, ascending mountains, traversing high ridges and down into wadis. Camping under the stars, Bedouin-style in the desert and delighted in the ancient hidden Rose city of Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Julie successfully completed the challenge and has so far raised an outstanding £2,571 for St David's Hospice Care - a total that will make a vital impact.

Generous donation to hospice raised in memory of Gemma

Community and Events Manager Beth met up with Louise Williams near the end of March at our Hospice Site in Newport.

Recently, we had the honour of caring for Louise's wife, Gemma Williams, a talented Welsh rugby player. In a heartfelt gesture, Louise generously brought in an incredible donation of £820 raised in memory of Gemma.

Incredible support for St David's Hospice Care through significant donation

April saw Chief Executive Emma Saysell, met with Keyvan and Paul to receive a very generous donation to the hospice.

St David's Hospice Care are very grateful to have received a £10,000 donation. A significant total that will make a vital difference in helping to fund our free of charge care and services to patients, families and carers across South East Wales. Thank you Keyvan, Paul and Donna for your dedicated fundraising that will enable us to continuing caring for those who need us.

Noah's 'Make Someone Smile Project' provides Easter Eggs for The Unicorn Service

This month, we met dedicated fundraiser Noah with an incredible donation of 150 Easter Eggs for our Unicorn Service. Noah is currently being supported by the hospice working with our Family Support Team and we are so very grateful for such kind support that will make such a positive difference to children and families with us.

Many years ago, Noah set up the 'Make Someone Smile Project' - where so far, over 10,000 Easter Eggs have been donated to local charities and have brought joy to many who need it. Thank you Noah - you're a hospice hero!

John Griffiths MS and Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, leader of Newport City Council support our Half Marathon

Pictured (L-R): John Griffiths MS, Emma Saysell, CEO of St David's Hospice Care, Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, Leader of Newport City Council.

We would like to thank John Griffiths MS and Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, leader of Newport City Council, for taking part in the St Joseph's Hospital City of Newport Half Marathon in support of St David's Hospice Care.

“After missing last year, it was great to be running the City of Newport half marathon again and raising money for St David’s Hospice. The event always coincides with the beginning of spring, and this year we had some glorious sunshine on the course. I am a
bit biased as a Newport politician, but the combination of the route, the atmosphere, and the cause we are raising money for, makes it the best running event in Wales.”  John Griffiths MS

Special visitors to our In-Patient Unit thanks to Greenmeadow Community Farm

At St David's Hospice Care our patients are at the centre of our care - always. When our In-Patient Unit was designed and built in 2017 we wanted to ensure all animals, whether a beloved pet or just visiting for the day, can easily reach all of our rooms.

Each bedroom has bifold doors which allows our animal visitors to easily access the person they are coming to visit, and are wide enough to accommodate all size animals from a dog to a pony. We also have level outside access straight through to our gardens from our car park for animals to be safely unloaded and walked to a patients room.

Last week, we had two donkeys visit one of our patients to enjoy some cuddles and carrots - the donkeys were able to head straight to the hospice room doors ensuring a lovely experience for all. A very special thank you to Greenmeadow Community Farm for making this visit possible, we are so grateful for your incredible support.

Local Businesses help to make a vital difference with donations to the hospice

In April St David's Hospice Care were fortunate to receive a wonderful donation of £644 from WHA Healthcare - a fantastic amount that will make a significant difference. We welcomed Conan and Angharad to our Newport hospice sites to share more about what we do and how fundraising makes such a vital difference to us

We also visited Pontio Lounge in Chepstow to celebrate even more incredible fundraising from their popular quiz evenings - the team and supporters at Pontio Lounge raised another incredible amount of £500 for the hospice making their grand total raised so far a wonderful £1,225.15. A transformative total we are so grateful to recieve.

Running for good this Spring

We would like to give a big shout out to our amazing runners who have been busy over the last couple of weekends taking part in various events up and down the country.

The 6th April was a busy one! Helen Webb and Matthew Botting (pictured) took part in the Brighton Marathon, Andrew Dallow (pictured) traversed the local hills in the Kymin Dash while Hollie Boxall (pictured) and Annie Bell travelled to the Big Smoke for the London Landmarks Half Marathon. On 12th April Rachel Wiltshire took on the epic She Ultra 50k. It was great to have a few hospice heroes taking part in the Newport running festival on Sunday 13th April. Nickie Hawke took on the 10k, Lowrie Hammond did the half and Sam Williams (pictured) and Phillip Tucker both did the full marathon. Well done everyone! The money they've raised will be supporting patients and their families at a very difficult time. You're all incredible! Thank you!

Hospice Nurses host Easter Fundraiser

On 16th April our Hospice Nurses hosted a fantastic Easter Fundraiser at the Parkway Hotel, raising vital funds for their Companion Bed Fundraiser to help the team reach closer to their £15,000 target!

A great evening was had by all - with fantastic performances from Bois-Y-Bryn and Linden Singers, an Easter bonnet parade, stalls, raffle and even a visit from the Easter Bunny. A special thank you to our fantastic members of Cwmbran Support Group for coming along and volunteering their time, we are so grateful.

You can donate here to help our nurses reach their total.

Community Fundraising celebrating Easter and Mothers Day

It was lovely to meet with dedicated hospice fundraiser Gail in April with another incredible donation! Gail and daughter Amy host many fundraisers throughout the year to support St David's and recently held an Easter raffle which raised a magnificent £830 for the hospice.

Later in the month, we also met with Fran who runs La-di Dardy Flowers. Fran has kindly supported the hospice for the last 4 years with the sale of beautiful Mothering Sunday bouquets that have locally grown, Welsh and British blooms! Such lovely fundraising has now raised an incredible grand total of £1,000 - a wonderful amount that is so vital to the hospice.