Bridgnorth’s Patricia smashes £20,000 fundraising target for children’s hospice

A Shropshire fundraiser has smashed her target of raising £20,000 in a year for Hope House children’s hospice in just nine months.

Patricia Ward-Jones, 71, set herself the fundraising target in July 2024 after visiting the hospices to see the care children and families receive.

“I had been donating to the Bridgnorth shop for a number of years and was invited to visit the hospices and see what difference my donations were making,” said Patricia, who lives in Faintree, just outside of Bridgnorth.

“It was so amazing to be invited in and shown how money raised was being spent. It made me feel part of the cause and I decided I would really like to do more – so I decided to dedicate a year to fundraising.”

From bake sales, to making and selling homemade marmalades, making and raffling Easter and Christmas hampers, joining the charity’s Quality Moments Matter campaign and organising a Ladies’ Lunch and Fashion Show in Bridgnorth, Patricia, who does hold a British Empire Medal for services to charity, has not stopped in her efforts.

“Raising £20,000 by April to help local children and families is absolutely incredible, but I can’t take all the credit,” she says.

“I have had so much help from local businesses, community groups and family and friends which have all made this possible. It has really been a joint effort by the Bridgnorth community and I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has got involved.”

Hope House Children’s Hospices is a charity that gives every local child with a life-threatening condition and their family access to professional care and improves their quality of life from the point of diagnosis.

Fundraiser for Hope House Dawn Ball said: “It costs £10 million a year to run the services at our hospices, with no charge ever made to families for accessing our services.

“We can only be here for the children and families that need us the most thanks to the wonderful support of supporters like Patricia, and all those in and around Bridgnorth who have helped her raise this amazing amount of money.

“To raise £20,000 in just a matter of months is amazing and I would like to say a huge thank you to Patricia for all her incredible support – it really does mean the world.”