AddThis SmartLayers

Weekly bids to fund hospice nurse for one year

A weekly newspaper is aiming to raise enough cash to fund a hospice nurse on its patch for a full year.

The Westmorland Gazette has launched its Hospice Angels campaign, which aims to raise £30,000 for Lancaster’s St John’s Hospice.

So far more than £4,000 of donations have arrived since the appeal was announced at the start of this month.

Sue McGraw, the chief executive of St John’s Hospice, said that staff had been “overwhelmed” with the outpouring of support.

The logo of the Gazette's Hospice Angels campaign

The logo of the Gazette’s Hospice Angels campaign

In a message to readers, she said: “Patients and families always tell us how much they appreciate the care the hospice provides but this week we’ve seen how much it means

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for our team. Your donations mean so much to us, without them, we simply would not have a service in South Lakes. On behalf of everyone at the hospice, thank you so much.”

Andrew Thomas, editor of the Gazette, said that he was “blown away” by the generosity of readers.

He added: “It’s been a fantastic start to the campaign. We are so grateful to our readers and we hope that we can keep the momentum up over the coming weeks.”