by Joe Jeffrey
Over £4,500 raised for local hospice
Staff at a holiday park in Chichester have teamed up with guests and members of the local community to create a four-figure windfall for a local hospice.
Chichester Lakeside Holiday Park presented St Wilfrid’s Hospice with a cheque for just over £4,500 last week as a result of the park’s fundraising efforts involving many of the park’s 60-plus employees.
For the past 12 months, the park has persuaded guests to put their hands in their pockets in a good cause by arranging a raft of different fun events, including summer fares, Christmas parties and Easter egg competitions, together with car boot sales, competitions, and a range of fundraising activities for youngsters.
According to park administration manager Sharon Dawes, the aim was to beat the £3,500 total raised by the park last year for the Arundel children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House – something the park and its employees and guests easily achieved.
During the park’s fundraising efforts, a number of prize donations were offered by nearby traders, ranging from major supermarkets to a local farm shop.
These, along with gifts from members of staff, helped swell the takings from activities such as draws and tombolas which were supported both by local residents and park guests.
Chichester Lakeside’s cheque was presented by Dawes to St Wilfrid’s Hospice charity co-ordinator Alisa Lakeman-Ford at the charity’s headquarters nearby.
Thanking everyone at the park for their tremendous effort, Alisa said that the hospice receives only 13 percent of its funding from the NHS and needs to raise an additional £6.7 million each year.
This largely comes, she said, through the support of the local community – and that Chichester Lakeside Park had shown itself to be a very kind and generous neighbour.
