Ashgate Hospice’s stunning display featuring a thousand remembrance butterflies comes to Chatsworth

Categories: Fundraising.

Chatsworth will play host to a hospice’s poignant remembrance installation featuring a thousand steel butterflies when it’s unveiled later this month.

The stunning display at the historical country estate will be planted as part of Ashgate Hospice’s Butterfly Appeal, sponsored by Graysons Solicitors.

Each butterfly is dedicated in memory of supporters’ loved ones in return for a suggested £25 donation to the charity.

Families are being invited to visit the display for free in the grounds of Chatsworth between 23rd May and 12th June.

The 45cm butterflies have been lovingly designed and handcrafted by local sculptor James Sutton.

The hospice’s Head of Fundraising, Jack Wood, says the campaign is a special way for supporters to mourn, remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones.

He said: “We can’t wait to unveil our Butterfly Appeal installation featuring a thousand steel butterflies – and what better place for it to be held than Chatsworth?!

“The display will be stunning and incredibly poignant – it’s moving to think each one has been dedicated in memory of people’s loved ones across North Derbyshire.

“We’re so grateful to everyone who has supported our appeal so far, the donations will mean we can be there to provide vital care for families across North Derbyshire.

“It’s not too late to dedicate a butterfly in memory of your loved one, just head over to our website to find out more about supporting the campaign.”

After the display ends, those who have donated for a butterfly will be able to collect their butterfly to keep and treasure in their home or garden as an ongoing tribute and memorial to their loved one.

Amongst those supporting the appeal is Tracie Holocuk, who will be dedicating a butterfly in memory of her “fun, intelligent and caring” daughter, Kimberley Trickett.

After doctors told Kimberley she had an aggressive inoperable brain tumor, she spent the last five-and-a-half weeks of her life being cared for at Ashgate’s Inpatient Unit.

She died peacefully at the hospice in July 2009, aged 20.

Tracie, 57, from Chesterfield, said: “Before I went to Ashgate I envisaged a place that resembled an old-fashioned poor house, with high ceilings, smelling of sick and stiff matrons barking orders at their staff – I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“As soon as I stood outside the reception, I started to cry with relief, I could already feel the calmness and tranquility of the place.

“The camaraderie of the staff and volunteers brightened up our days and nights. The Ashgate angels helped us so much by being there whenever we needed anything.”

In the last few days of her life, the hospice was able to fulfill her wish of visiting her family home, aptly called “Butterfly House”, for one final time, which Tracie says “meant everything” to their family.

Tracie is proud to be supporting the Butterfly Appeal – a theme especially apt given Kim’s love and connection to butterflies.

“I once said to Kim in the hospice ‘what are you going to come back as then?’ She replied: ‘Don’t ask daft questions, a butterfly of course!’ added Tracie.

“All our family and friends truly believe that whenever we see a butterfly it’s Kim popping by to say hello and it’s a reminder to be positive and grateful to be alive.

“She was always my beautiful butterfly, so when the hospice told me they were holding a Butterfly Appeal it was just meant to be.

“I hope other families will join me in dedicating a beautiful butterfly keepsake in memory of their loved ones, so the hospice can be there to help people like my Kim in years to come.”

Once the display ends, supporters of the campaign can then collect their flower from Ashgate Hospice in Chesterfield between 16th June and 17th June, between 10am and 5pm. Donors can also choose to have their flower posted to them.

The suggested donation for a butterfly is £25 and the money raised will be used to fund the hospice’s round-the-clock specialist end of life care.

To dedicate a butterfly, visit https://ashgatehospice.org.uk/butterfly-appeal/ or call the fundraising team on 01246 567250.

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Ashgate Hospice, based in Chesterfield, provides specialist palliative and end of life care including a wide range of community-based care and support services for people with a life-limiting illness and their families across North Derbyshire and the High Peak and Dales. ashgatehospice.org.uk

The Chatsworth House Trust is a registered charity established in 1981, where every penny of visitor admission income goes directly to the Trust to look after the house, collections, garden, woodlands and park for benefit of everyone.

Chatsworth plays an important role in the local community as a thriving cultural and educational destination, a nationally important historic landscape and a has a mindful approach to the environment and sustainability. With their commitment to a shared future the Trust is delighted to be host venue for this appeal, which links directly into one of their goals to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of their local communities.

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