We would like to thank Saint Mary’s One World Group and the entire congregation of St Mary’s Church Stafford for their successful fundraising efforts on behalf of Hospice Care Kenya. Their incredible generosity and commitment to our work has meant the One World Group has raised an amazing £1,600 to support palliative care in Kenya, through a wonderful variety of inventive fundraising events and initiatives.
One World Group member, Pauline Roycroft, shares more about the group’s fundraising activities:
“Saint Mary’s One World Group works to raise awareness of the issues faced by developing nations and to be a focus for charitable giving within St. Mary’s. We first heard about the work of Hospice Care Kenya some years ago through Brian Lloyd, one of our church members, who’s also a former trustee of HCK. In the autumn of 2023, we decided to support the work of HCK for a period of two to three years and since then we’ve raised £1,600 through a variety of fund-raising projects.
In December every year we hold a Christmas Tree Festival in church. This is a real community event, with 100 decorated trees on display, and several thousand visitors to the church. We have a One World Group tree which we decorate with logos and pictures from HCK to publicise the cause. The festival includes a Carol Concert when the church is packed to capacity. The collection at this service was dedicated to HCK.
Last autumn one of the regular coffee concerts in St. Mary’s raised money for HCK. The concert, “St Mary’s Miscellany”, featured musical items by a variety of musicians from St. Mary’s and friends. The concert was well attended and raised a substantial sum for the charity.
The Cross in my Pocket project makes an on-going contribution to the appeal. We have a talented needleworker who makes small pockets with a cross inside. These are available to friends and visitors to the church in exchange for a donation.
We try to keep the work of Hospice Care Kenya in people’s minds by putting regular updates in the church monthly bulletin and in the parish magazine. We also have an HCK display in church for photos and newsletters. This will be prominent at our upcoming summer arts festival which attracts a wide range of visitors.
More than anything, we rely on the generosity of friends and members of St. Mary’s. Without their on-going support none of this would be possible.”
Thank you to all at St Mary’s and the One World Group for all your hard work and support to HCK!