A hospice has raised around £100,000 through celebrations over the Christmas period to ensure patients with life-limiting illnesses get the care they need.
December has always been a busy month for Katherine House Hospice fundraising, and our supporters did not disappoint, donating their time and money to various events and initiatives.
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Hosted by RC Baker to support the hospice, the popular tractor run draws thousands to the streets to watch 100 brightly lit tractors travel through Banbury and the surrounding villages. We collected £27,462, a number far from its humility. In 2016 he raised £2,000 and put 26 tractors into operation.
Hospice’s flagship Santa Fun Run event saw 400 Santas of all ages run around Spiceball Park on Sunday 4 December, raising a further £27,000.
In addition to this, around 10,000 students participated in Santa Runs in schools across the local community, raising over £4,000 for Catherine House.
Supporters have dug deep for this year’s Christmas Appeal, donating £32,495 by mail, online and as part of the Lights of Love event in the hospice.
In addition, 180 trees were collected and trimmed for the Hospice Christmas Tree Cycle Scheme, with participants contributing £3,294.
Jennie Steenkamp of RC Baker Ltd, which runs the annual tractor run, said the company has been making money for Katherine House since Katherine House’s grandfather, Ray Marcham, spent his final days in the hospice in January 2004. said to have collected
“I always choose Katherine House when I raise money because of the amazing care she gave to Ray,” she said.
“I never expected this event to be such a big fundraiser, so I couldn’t be happier that it turned out to be such a huge success.
Stephanie Lawless, Head of Fundraising for Catherine House, said:
“We are very happy to have raised so much money and we are so grateful to the community for being there for us.
“The future is uncertain. We do not know how much the cost of living crisis and various other factors will affect future funding.
“However, our busy team will continue to launch and organize a wide variety of events that we hope will appeal to a wide audience. It will be an exciting 2023.”
To see what events and initiatives Katherine House has planned for this year, visit www.khh.org.uk/events.
This article was written by Matthew Norman. He joined the team in his 2022 as a reporter for his Facebook community.
Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from a diverse community.
Please contact him by email: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk
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