St Clare Hospice has diversified its fundraising activities in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The charity is running a number of new digitally-based fundraisers to engage supporters online, including the charity’s first ever Virtual 5K run.
St Clare Challenges and Events fundraiser Emma Broadbent, explained: “As many of you will have seen in the news, lots of running events have been cancelled and postponed due to Coronavirus – including our annual St Clare 10K which is now taking place on September 6. However, in the meantime, if you want to stay active and keep up with your training, we bring you our first ever Virtual 5K!
“Our brand-new Virtual 5K run is the perfect way to make the training miles count whilst also supporting St Clare Hospice. You can run it or walk it in your own time, and in a place of your choice – be it at home or in a local park. Just be sure to do it safely, and in line with the latest government advice. Participants can enter online, complete their 5K and email us a screenshot of their run tracker. It’s as easy as that!”
The virtual run is one of several ways people can support the hospice from home. The St Clare Lottery is an electronic draw that costs £1 a week for the chance to win 24 cash prizes and a rollover prize worth up to £10,000. It raises around £475,000 for the hospice each year.
Supporters can also make purchases through the hospice’s shop on eBay, and through the Amazon Smile and EasyFundraising portals, choosing to donate to the hospice at no extra cost.
Those working from home are encouraged to donate their lunch or travel money to the hospice, and instead of taking part in sponsored activities can consider setting up a Facebook fundraiser.
St Clare is appealing for funds to mitigate the impact of the viral outbreak. St Clare Hospice Director of Income Generation, Rosie Knowles, said:
“The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic is still only just beginning to unfold, but already our fundraising and retail teams are reporting a worrying downturn. As an independent charity, St Clare is heavily reliant on the ongoing support of our local community. With the latest Coronavirus measures meaning we are all having to restrict our social contact, more and more fundraising events are having to be cancelled or postponed – which is already having a huge impact on our income.”
“At St Clare, the worst case scenario is that we are down £100,000 on our fundraising targets within three months. That is the equivalent of not being able to fund our Hospice at Home nursing service for over seven weeks.
“The hospice is prepared for challenges to our income such as this, and we have reserves to call on. But this is an unprecedented situation which no one could have predicted and we know that in the coming months our income generation team will be pushed to the limit to ensure we can continue to keep the hospice running. We need our supporters’ help more than ever at this difficult time. Whatever people can donate today will help to ensure that we can continue to be here, providing much needed expert care for the people who need us most.”
For more information visit St Clare Hospice
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