Hedges Direct Donates £10k to Help Support Charities Through Covid Crisis
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Hedges Direct is proud to announce that the company will be donating £5,000 to Cancer Research UK this January, to help support the charity at this challenging time and to help re-build post Covid. However, in addition to their original pledge to Cancer Research UK, the Lancashire based company will now also donate a further £5,000 to benefit local charities, Derian House Children’s Hospice in Chorley and St. Catherine’s Hospice in Preston.
The team at Hedges Direct are no strangers to fundraising, regularly organising in-house events to raise money for both local and national charities, but with the pandemic seeing many staff working from home, the company fundraising activities also ceased. However, with charities everywhere now struggling to fund vital services, the team felt strongly that they still wanted to contribute and help to fill the gap.
Speaking about the donations, Jamie Shipley, Managing Director said, “As an online business we were very fortunate to be able to remain trading through 2020 when so many great businesses have been forced to close their doors. In light of this, and the ongoing Covid pandemic having a huge financial impact on charities’ vital work and services, all of us at Hedges Direct felt it more important than ever to be able to give something back.
“I am thrilled to now confirm, that alongside donating £5,000 to help support the wonderful work of Cancer Research UK, we will also be donating an additional £2,500 each to two local hospices – Derian House and St. Catherine’s Hospice, whom the team also wished to support and help through this difficult time. I’d like to thank each and every one of our customers for their support in 2020 without whom this wouldn’t have been possible.”
Cancer Research UK has been hit hard by the pandemic and the charity is predicting a staggering £300 million drop in income over the next three years, which could put future medical breakthroughs at risk. It is hoped that the £5k donation being made by Hedges Direct will help aid a faster recovery of their potentially life-saving research and development projects and to help beat cancer sooner. Alex Parkinson, Central Fundraising Executive for Cancer Research UK said: “Everyone at Cancer Research UK would like to send a giant heartfelt thank you to Hedges Direct for their wonderful donation of £5,000. Covid-19 has caused a devastating loss of research funding so we’re incredibly grateful for donations from businesses such as this one. The dedication and commitment of supporters like Hedges Direct will help us to carry on our life-saving work and move towards a cancer-free future.”
The donations of £2.5k each to Derian House Children’s Hospice and St. Catherine’s Hospice will help to ensure that patients of all ages from local communities, still have the access they need to specialist support, respite and end of life care. Caroline Taylor, Communications Manager for Derian House said, “We are extremely thankful to Hedges Direct for their support in these challenging times. 2020 was a difficult year for the hospice with fundraising events cancelled and our charity shops forced to close. Receiving this generous donation is an amazing way to start the New Year and helps us to continue caring for children and young people with life-limiting illnesses from across the North West.”
Emma Jacovelli, head of Community Engagement at St Catherine’s Hospice, said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to Hedges Direct for this very generous donation. We have been faced with additional costs and pressures this last year due to the pandemic - including PPE and many more unforeseen costs - and all at a time when our usual income generation activities have been impacted.
“We’ve continued to care for people with life-shortening illnesses at the hospice and in patients’ own homes, and we’re still here for our communities too. We’re providing some of our support remotely and virtually, such as bereavement counselling and carer support, and we’re having to create new ways to raise vital funds for our charity whilst our fundraising events are on hold and our shops and café are closed.
“This donation will really help as we plan ahead for 2021 and work hard to provide our services, helping people to experience the best possible quality of life to the end of life.”