The 35ft Grinch

Local businessman Ray Liddell bought his Grinch-obsessed daughters Olivia and Jasmine a 35ft inflatable of the Dr Seuss Character. When he put it up outside his home in Park Avenue, a passer-by offered Ray £10 to get a photo with it. Ray saw this as a great fundraising opportunity and decided to raise money for Alice House Hospice who cared for his father Frank before he sadly died of COVID 19.

The response was phenomenal, attracting people from all over the region to come along and take photos. The campaign which was named #GrowYourHartFund raised an incredible £32,969 which will be used to provide care and support to local patients and their families.

The story caught the attention of both the local and national press, appearing on both ITV and BBC news. The Grinch was even mentioned on This Morning and Have I Got News For You and Steph’s Packed Lunch. The story of Ray’s fundraising travelled even further afield when he was interviewed for a radio station in New Zealand.

Local companies came forward with J & B Recycling becoming the main sponsors of the campaign, which was also supported by Wallis & Co, IGO Move, Roy Blyth’s Butchers, The Place in the Park, AJ Car Wash, Mulgrave Carpets, F. Shotton, Blindcraft, James Print and Hillier Jewellers who donated a watch for a bonus ball competition which raised £550 to which they added a further donation of £600. Representatives of Hartlepool United visited the Grinch with a £1,000 donation from one of their sponsors, Joseph Parr Ltd and a further £346 raised from the NCS Students at the club.

The Grinch also received a visit from Hartlepool’s own WBO Middleweight Champion and Alice House Ambassador Savannah Marshall, who brought along her championship belt for a photo.

Ray Liddell said “I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to everybody who came and donated, family, friends, companies who sponsored the fund, Hartlepool United Football Club, Savannah Marshall, Gerald Oliver for taking such fantastic photos, Alastair Rae for his PR talents, James Print, volunteers from the Hospice, Ryan, Sue and Rachel and to Janice from the Hospice for her support and help. It has been an honour and a privilege to raise such a fantastic amount for Alice House Hospice in memory of my dad Frank. Due to the success we will be continuing the “Grow Your Hart Fund. Watch this space!!

Janice Forbes, Community Fundraiser at the Hospice said “We cannot thank Ray and his family enough for raising such an amazing amount for Alice House Hospice; this is one of most successful fundraisers we have known. It has been an incredible boost to our fundraising income during a very difficult time. Ray’s enthusiasm and commitment to the project has been unbelievable and this has massively contributed to the success of the fund.”

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Trees of Remembrance

Alice House Hospice were extremely grateful to Tesco Extra for accommodating their annual Trees of Remembrance stall in the weeks leading up to Christmas. This was a huge success and raised £6,600.

The stall invited people to dedicate a bauble in memory of a loved one and hang on a Christmas Tree in return for a donation to the charity.

Janice Forbes, Community Fundraiser at the Hospice said “I would like to thank Tesco for hosting the event, sponsors Napoli Woodfired Pizza, Manners & Harrison and Portofino’s for sponsoring the trees, our lovely volunteers for manning the stall and everyone who donated. We are delighted to have raised so much for Hospice care in just three weeks.”

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Hartlepool Brass Band

In December, Hartlepool Brass Band played Christmas Carols at various venues throughout the town including Ward Jackson Park and several care homes. The final performance was at Alice House Hospice on 23 December and the band played for patients and staff. They collected a fantastic £1,601.

Janice Forbes, Community Fundraiser at Alice House said, “A huge thank you to the members of the band, they sounded brilliant and the patients and staff loved the performance.”

Dave Harrison, conductor for the band said “It was a pleasure to take part in the concerts, give some joy to people and raise such an amazing amount for a great cause.”

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West Hartlepool Rugby Club

Members of West Hartlepool Rugby Club took part in a socially distanced Santa and His Elves Run on Saturday 5 December.

The team of sixteen which included Santa, Elves and Reindeers on cycles raised an incredible £9,665.

Janice Forbes, Community Fundraiser at the Hospice said “This is an amazing amount raised, well done to all who took part and a huge thank you to everyone who supported and sponsored. This is a great example of the community getting together to support their local Hospice during these difficult times.”

Matthew Tyers from the club said “We all had a great time and are delighted that we managed to raise such a fantastic amount. A few of us have seen first-hand the support given to loved family members over the years and wanted to give something back.”

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Specsavers Christmas Jumper Month

Staff at Specsavers Hartlepool took part in various Christmas fundraising activities including a Christmas Jumper day and raised a fantastic £502.

Janice Forbes, Community Fundraiser at the Hospice said “Specsavers are great supporters of Alice House Hospice. Many thanks to the staff and customers for getting into the Christmas spirit and raising funds in these difficult and strange times.”

Mitchell Robb from Specsavers said “Alice House Hospice is a cause which is close to our hearts and it was lovely to have the opportunity to raise funds for them.”

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Supporter Magazine

Alice House’s Winter edition of their Hello, my name is Alice supporter magazine proved to be a huge success, helping to generate around £35,000 in responses from readers.

The magazine included a Christmas raffle to win £2,000 and also invited people to make a donation or take part in the Hospice’s annual Light up a Life campaign which remembers loved ones. 

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Light up a Life

Whilst Alice House’s annual Light up a Life campaign was able to proceed as usual, allowing people to submit dedications to loved ones either online or by post, the usual remembrance services held in Hartlepool and Peterlee were sadly cancelled due to COVID restrictions.

The campaign was sponsored as usual by Victoria House Funeral Services, who took part in a special video message to supporters of the campaign, with Father Richard Masshedar of Saint Paul’s Church, who are the hosts of the Hartlepool service. Father Richard recorded a heartfelt Christmas message, which would have traditionally have been shared at the service and Apolena Wilson of delivered a reading too. The video can be viewed here.

“The services are very popular and a poignant way to remember people that we miss,” said Greg Hildreth, Communications Senior Manager at Alice House. “We are really grateful to Apolena and Father Richard for helping us make this lovely video and hope that it helped to provide some comfort.”