Festival Place helps to raise more than £80,000

Festival Place helps to raise more than £80,000 for local charities

Over the course of the last year, Festival Place has helped raise a massive £89,087.89 for 14 different charities. Both local and national organisations will benefit from the fundraising efforts.  

Festival Place’s 2019 charity of the year, for the second year running, is St. Michael’s Hospice, which provides care to people affected by life-limiting illness. After a successful year of charity events, over £10,000 has been contributed by Festival Place towards patient care.

Head of Fundraising at St. Michael’s Hospice, Jackie Ridge, said: “It has been a real pleasure to work with the team at Festival Place and your kindness and generosity are truly appreciated by everyone, especially our patients and their families who have been affected by life limiting illness in our community.

“With your help the Hospice can continue to provide the best professional care for our patients and families at a time when it is truly needed, and for that we are truly grateful.”

Collections flooded in via the shopping centre ‘community hotspot’ – a dedicated space for charities to collect donations. The annual collection for the Royal British Legion raised a total of £68,000, in addition to £3,795.83 for the Salvation Army, £978.56 for Guide Dogs For The Blind and £423.75 for Alder Valley Brass.

A total of £826.00 will be going to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, £445.02 to Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal, £376.18 to British Red Cross, £666.67 to RNLI and £3795.83 to The Salvation Army.   

Over the festive period, drop-in workshops run by The Hampshire Flower studio, were attended by 375 people from the local community. The flower therapy workshops funded by Festival Place aim to bring people together in a calm, relaxing environment to aid mental health and wellbeing, and teach simple and practical skills. A sum of £2,446.51 was raised, which will benefit St. Michael’s Hospice, The Pink & Blue Place, Anna’s Challenges, Sebastian’s Action Trust and The Pelican Cancer Foundation.

Neil Churchill, Centre Director at Festival Place, said “We are so pleased that we have been able to help so many charities.

“We would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in the fundraising efforts and those who donated towards such great causes in our local community.”