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People standing with cheque and flowers

Flowery Fundraising Supports Hospice Care

Green-fingered fundraiser Sarah Williams has recently raised a fantastic £557 for local Hospice Care charity Phyllis Tuckwell, by selling bouquets of the beautiful dahlias that she grows on her allotment.

People standing with cheque and flowers

Sarah, her mum Pat, and her friend Mel, present a cheque for £557 to Emily and Helena from Phyllis Tuckwell’s Fundraising team.

Sarah has always loved dahlias and has been growing these colourful flowers for over 25 years. She has often sold bouquets to friends and work colleagues, and has recently exhibited them at Wisley, where she has twice won the People’s Choice Award at the annual flower show there. 

When a friend asked Sarah if she would provide the flowers for her daughter’s wedding, and then shortly afterwards a work colleague requested flowers for another wedding, Sarah decided that she would donate the proceeds from these to local charity Phyllis Tuckwell. In 2021, Richard, a dear friend of Sarah’s and fellow dahlia enthusiast, was cared for by Phyllis Tuckwell, which offers palliative and end of life care for patients, families and carers living with an advanced or terminal illness, such as cancer. Just two years later Sarah’s dad, Derek, was also admitted to the charity’s In-Patient Unit, where he was cared for in his final days, and earlier this year, Ann, another friend of Sarah’s, spent her last days on the In-Patient Unit, too.

“All the staff at Phyllis Tuckwell were absolutely amazing,” said Sarah. “They really looked after Dad, and us too. Flowers bring so much joy to people, and to me, and I wanted to spread that joy with my bouquets of dahlias, and by donating the money raised from them to a local charity which is so important and so close to my heart. I’d also like to thank my friend Mel, who has been a tower of strength to me throughout, as well as being the wine pourer, floor sweeper, and driving me and the flowers to the two weddings! Her support was invaluable in helping to raise this money for Phyllis Tuckwell.”

“We would like to thank Sarah for this wonderful and generous donation in memory of her dad Derek, and her friends Richard and Ann,” said Helena Burke, community fundraiser at Phyllis Tuckwell. “As the NHS/Government only covers 25% of our costs, we have to raise over £25,000 every day to provide our care, and we rely heavily on the support of our local community to do this. £557 is enough to pay for just over three day’s care from one of our In-Patient Unit nurses, who each care for up to five patients and offer emotional support to their loved ones too.”

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Please help us

All our services are free, but this is only possible due to the generosity of our amazing community. The Government/NHS only provide 25% of our costs, so we need to raise over £25,000 every day to provide our vital services.

Please donate what you can to help keep hospice care available to all those in our community who need us.

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