Hailsham woman raises thousands for hospice care

Anita Stone began fundrasing for the hospice after they helped care for her husband Geoff Stone

Moved by the care Geoff received before his death in April 2014, Anita and members of her family have organised a number of fundraising events to support the hospice’s work.

Anita Stone said, “The care Geoff received at the hospice was exceptional and I wanted to raise some money to ensure that others could also benefit from the excellent support that is provided.

“It costs about £500 a day for a patient to stay at the hospice, so I set about raising about £5,000, equivalent to the cost of his care.”

The family’s fundraising activities included two race nights, held at Wealdon Community Centre in Hailsham and at the Tavern on the Green in Crawley.

Geoff’s daughter Sarah and his grandson Aiden also took part in a charity sky-dive raising more than £600 in sponsorship.

The family also enlisted the help of funeral director Paul Shortall, from Ballard and Shortall in Crawley and Howard Coote, principal funeral Director at Haine & Son.

The funeral directors helped promote the events, collect donations and added an extra £320 to the fund.

Paul Shortall, from the CPJ Field-owned branch, said, “The hospice is an incredibly valued institution within the local community – offering help and care at a time when it is needed most – however, it constantly needs donations to ensure it can continue to provide support.

“We are delighted to have had the opportunity to help Anita and her family with their fundraising and urge others to continue supporting this very worthy cause.”

So far the family has raised a £4,697 - just short of their £5,000 target.

Anita said, “We’re delighted to have nearly reached this total; the support we’ve had from the local community has been overwhelming and I’d like to thank everyone who came along to the race nights and who made a donation to the cause.”

For more information about the fundraising events or to donate to the hospice fund visit http://geoff.stone.muchloved.com/

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