As Bents Garden & Home welcomes Once Upon a Smile as its new charity of the year, it has presented St Rocco’s Hospice in Warrington with a cheque for £26,204 raised as their chosen charity last year.
Customers and colleagues again showed enormous generosity in helping Bents raise an incredible amount for its 2018 Charity of the Year, money which will help this fantastic community facility and its provision of high quality care for adults living with a terminal or life limiting illness.
Rachel Ingham, St Rocco’s Fundraising Manager, who visited Bents to accept the donation, said: “We were absolutely thrilled when we were selected as Charity of the Year for Bents. It has been wonderful to work with them and they have been amazingly supportive, raising a fabulous amount in so many ways to help us continue to care for our patients and families.
“As well as the Bents’ Ball last summer, they have taken on some amazing challenges, including cycling from Holyhead to Cardiff and entering an all ladies team in our Dragon Boat Race. They have also been great advocates for our work, welcoming our complementary therapists to Bents on several occasions to help raise awareness of all the different ways that we can support people in the Warrington area living with terminal and life-limiting illness. We very much hope that our relationship will continue in other ways going forward.”
Rachel was joined for the occasion by representatives from Once Upon a Smile; Bents 2019 Charity of the Year. Founded in 2011 by actors Daniel Jillings and Danny Miller, the charity provides emotional and practical support to bereaved families in the Greater Manchester region with opportunities for children to understand and express their emotions in a fun and safe environment.
Matthew Bent, Managing Director at Bents Garden & Home, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have raised so much for St Rocco’s and I would like to say a big thank you to all our customers and colleagues who have helped throughout the year to make the campaign such a success. We are now looking forward to working with Once Upon a Smile, another fantastic cause and one which we are keen to do just as well for in 2019.”
In March this year, Once Upon a Smile moved to new premises in Old Trafford. Sidley House is a new dedicated bereavement hub which will allow bereaved families to express in a fun and safe environment. Bents hopes its 2019 fundraising efforts will contribute to the ongoing development of Sidley House and the dedicated support it provides.
