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CALLING all heroes… No, you don’t need to don a cape and fly across the parishes to carry out a dramatic rescue but if you are a budding baker, sportsperson, dancer or musician who has some time to spare this weekend, you could become a Hospice Hero.

In what is believed to be the first campaign of its kind to take place in the Island, this weekend will see Jersey Hospice Care’s Together for Hospice crowdfunding initiative take place.

The brainchild of Cheri Strudwick, the charity’s director of income generation and marketing, the event will take place over 72 hours from noon on Friday 7 March until noon on Monday 10 March. During that time, any money raised – up to the value of £50,000 – will be matched by private individuals, giving the charity the potential to generate up to £100,000 over the weekend.

“This is a really exciting campaign for us and is inspired by crowdfunding campaigns which I have seen other hospices in the UK carry out,” she explained. “Since joining Jersey Hospice Care in July 2023, I’ve had a desire to arrange an event of this nature, and now that we have secured our seed pot for money – for which we are tremendously grateful – it is wonderful to see the idea come to fruition.

“It is also lovely for people to know that anything they donate – and we are very conscious that the cost-of-living situation has impacted many Islanders – will be doubled, so every penny given really does make a difference.”

Indeed, for the Hospice team, all donations are hugely appreciated, as the charity has to raise 57% of the £8m that it costs to run its services each year.

“As we see an increased demand for our services, so our running costs continue to rise, and it is a tough climate for fundraising at the moment,” Cheri added. “We therefore hope that Together for Hospice will kickstart our fundraising activity for the year and form part of an exciting portfolio of events, which is designed to offer something to appeal to as many people as possible.”

Enhancing its appeal, adds Cheri, is the fact that we will take care of all the set-up – you don’t need to do anything other than send out your link to your contacts, or you can choose anactivity to undertake.

“People can do anything at all,” she smiled. “There are no set criteria. As long as the activity is safe and ethical, people can be as imaginative and creative as they like. Once they have decided what they want to do – from hosting a dinner party to undertaking a sponsored walk or run – they can come to us and we will set up a bespoke fundraising page for them on our Together for Hospice website.”

One of those who has already signed up to be a Hospice Hero is Kathy Gillies, one of the charity’s trustees and recently retired obstetrician gynaecologist, who will be undertaking a triathlon on Saturday.

Having been struck throughout her career by the “support of the community in Jersey”, Kathy joined the charity’s board of trustees 18 months ago, keen to “give something back”.

Someone who “loves exercise”, she is no stranger to physical challenges, having completed a range of triathlons and multi-sport events over the years, including an Iron Man challenge in Portugal two years ago, which raised around £4,000 for Hospice.

“This time, I have decided to do a triathlon at Les Quennevais Sports Centre, starting with a 72-minute swim and then a 72-minute cycle on a turbo bike outside the centre, followed by a 72-minute run around the track,” she said. “For the last of these challenges, I will be running alongside Hospice supporter Karl Fitzpatrick, who will be wearing our shoe mascot.”

Starting her challenge at 7.15am on Saturday, Kathy is hoping that this time will coincide with a number of Islanders, including those taking part in Park Run, arriving at the centre.

“While I am obviously hoping that people will donate on the day, I am also keen to see as many people as possible during the challenge, so that I can raise awareness of Hospice’s work,” she said. “Although Jersey Hospice Care touches thousands of Islanders every year, there are still a lot of misperceptions about the charity, which we are keen to address.

“Critically, we want people to understand that we are here for people with any life-limiting condition, not just for people who have received a cancer diagnosis. We also want people to know that our services are not limited to our in-patient unit at Clarkson House. We work in the community, supporting people in their own homes, in care homes or in the Hospital to allow them quality of life whilst living with a life limiting condition and we also offer a bereavement service which is available to all Islanders, even if their loved one was not cared for by Jersey Hospice Care.”

And Kathy’s commitment to spreading the word of, and raising money for, the charity’s services means that she has a busy few weeks coming up.

“Hot on the heels of the Together for Hospice triathlon is the Swimarathon, the Hospice Half Marathon on 23 March, a half Iron Man on 1 June in France and a full Iron Man later the year,” she said. “While I know that each of these events will be challenging – and that I will almost certainly suffer after most of them – I am always inspired to keep going because I know there are people who are worse off than I am, and I know how valuable the work of Hospice is both to those nearing their end of life, and to their loved ones.”

And Kathy is not the only Jersey Hospice Care supporter giving up her time over the weekend in support of the campaign.

“Some of our colleagues are playing 90 holes of golf across the 72 hours, while others will be grabbing a sponge and supporting our charity car wash at Clarkson House from 10am to 2pm on Saturday,” said Cheri. “We also have lots of individuals, schools and companies signed up and are looking forward to hearing from anyone else who would like to don that metaphorical cape, become a Hospice Hero and help us to reach our £100,000 target.”

For more information on what’s happening over the weekend and on becoming a Hospice Hero, visit www.jerseyhospicecare.com/together-for-hospice

If being a Hospice Hero isn’t for you, you can still support the campaign by making a donation on our fundraising page. Look out for the link going live on Friday 7 March.