From patients and families facing terminal illness to men getting their lives back on track, two charities have shared a record-breaking charity donation of more than £40,000.
Councillor Stephen Richardson, the Mayor of Stockton, led his office to raise £46,108 in the past year, setting a new record. Butterwick Hospice and the Moses Project received £20,055 each, with one £5,000 contribution doubled with the Big Give which matches donations, while the 1st Norton-on-Tees Scout Group, Parkfield Community Centre, Thornaby Warm Welcome and Erin Cavanagh School of Dance got £250 each, raised from events including a mayor’s ball, parmo and salsa nights and walks.
Butterwick Hospice
Cllr Richardson thanked staff and volunteers at each charity for their kindness, compassion, dedication and warmth. He said Butterwick Hospice, which delivers care for patients and families facing terminal illness, was “a truly special place”.
He told them: “What you do here goes far beyond what people see. It’s not just care – it’s comfort, dignity and being there for people and their families during the hardest moments of their lives. We are incredibly lucky to have something like this in our community.”
Allana Massingham, the hospice’s director of care, said: “In the current climate a lot of hospices are having financial challenges. To have a donation such as this helps us to maintain and develop our services even further.
“This type of donation allows us to provide the extra care for patients and families. To provide the level and standard of service we want to, we have to raise a lot of funding.
“We have two nurses on each unit and several healthcare assistants. Our staff to patient ratio is very good, but it comes at a cost.
“The adult inpatient unit has reopened since 2023, now we have eight beds fully open. The donations help us to grow and develop, continue that improvement.
“We’re on a journey and we’ve come a long, long way but we still have a way to go,” she added, speaking of the aim to improve the hospice’s ‘good’ Care Quality Commission rating to “outstanding”.
Moses Project
Moses Project, a charity which gives guidance, support and mentoring to men with addictions. Cllr Richardson said: “The Moses Project is a shining example of compassion, dedication and community spirit. The work you do makes a lasting difference to so many lives.
“I am incredibly proud to have the Moses Project here in Stockton, and I want to congratulate each and every one of you on the outstanding work you continue to do.”
Husband and wife Brian and Stella Jones, who founded the “drop-in with a difference” 15 years ago to help men change their lives, said the donation was “tremendous”. The service has nine paid staff and 16 volunteers and has sent more than 700 men to rehab, got more than 650 men off the streets, helped hundreds gain skills and served over 200,000 hot meals.
Expanding
Now they want homes to accommodate and look after their clients, and are looking into more support for homeless women. Brian said: “We are seriously looking into housing at the moment and this will be a massive help.”
Stella said funding had been tight: “We have some fantastic volunteers we’d love to employ but we can’t afford to do it. And it’s the day-to-day running costs.
“We do lots of walking and treat them to fish and chips and lemon tops, they’re the things we all take for granted. The other big thing is rehabilitation.”
Volunteer Michaela Garvey said: “That massive donation’s going to give us more, we can provide them with more tents, sleeping bags, feed them every day. The lads come in on a Tuesday and they haven’t eaten all weekend.”
Neil Ivin, 55, who has been coming to the project for two years, said it had helped him through traumatic times: “I fell in love with it. The place is amazing.”
Kevin Lewis, 59, said: “I was knocking about with the wrong crowd, getting into drugs and drink. Since I’ve been coming here I’ve felt a lot better and kept out trouble.
“If it wasn’t for a place like this, where would you go? You get good support. You play games, really it’s just like a youth club.”
Jim Purdie, 55, said a support worker brought him to the project after a family bereavement, and he was on a gradually reducing methadone programme: “Since I’ve been coming here I’ve been doing great and I’ve been able to interact with people.
“They’ve helped with all sorts, to be fair. I’ve just my own flat, they helped me with a bed and quilt.
“I’m going in the right direction, but if I didn’t have this, I don’t know. This takes my mind off things.”
Trustee and retired consultant engineer Laurence Waters said: “You see people recover and disappear, a lot go back into a normal life, which is what you really need to see. It’s great when you don’t see people again. They get jobs, get married and move on.”
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