Charity fundraising initiatives for local hospices Naomi House & Jacksplace have crossed the decade mark for Southampton-based Dimplex. This support is more important than ever as the need for, and demands placed upon, the hospices only increase.
Since 1997 the hospices have supported more than 800 children and young adults with life limiting conditions offering care, emergency care, end of life and bereavement care. The hospices require £11,000 per day to operate, yet receive less than 10 percent of that through government funding, so are heavily reliant on fundraising activities.
Over the past 10 years, staff at Dimplex have supported the charity through a range of activities – from raffles and lottery ticket sales, to Christmas shops in the office. But by far the most successful is the regular collection of bags of unwanted clothes and gifts that can be sold through Naomi House retail shops. Dimplex staff donate around 60 bags every month with each worth on average £30 to the charity.
Employee Dawn Smith, who runs the charity initiatives for Naomi House at Dimplex, said: “There is a tremendous amount of support and it is something that is so easy for everyone to take part in. It is a great way of raising money needed to run the hospice. As you can imagine there is a huge amount of equipment needed to help the youngsters, and it costs a lot of money.”
Sarah Hudson, Area Fundraiser for both Hospices, explained: “We support children and young adults from seven counties in central Southern England and appreciate the wonderful support given to us by companies, community groups and individuals, without whom we would not be able to offer the services we provide both here at the hospices and in the community too.
“We organise a wide range of events and challenges to raise the money we need, so please take a look at our website. We also appreciate donations of stock either to our individual shops or via our warehouse at Winnall.”
“Supporting Naomi House and Jacksplace has never been more important,” added Dawn. “The fundraising initiatives we have in place are easy for everyone to support. We will continue to dedicate effort at Dimplex and our hope is that other local companies consider doing the same.”
More details on supporting can be found at: www.naomihouse.org.uk
