A £125,000-raising corporate partnership between Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice and the Phoenix Group has been shortlisted for a top charity award.
The Charity of the Year project has been shortlisted in the ‘Charity Partnership – Short Term’ category of the Third Sector Business Charity Awards 2014. The annual awards recognise the ‘outstanding contribution made by businesses in the UK to good causes’. The partnership is competing against four other pairings in its category. The winner will be revealed at a ceremony due to take place in London on May 13.
The shortlisting follows a year of activity by staff based at the Wythall site of the Phoenix Group. Three out of every four staff chose the hospice as their 2013 Charity of the Year and then organised a year-long programme of activities including a corporate car wash, an on-site tennis tournament, a summer fete, a fireworks night, a charity shop team challenge and their own version of ‘Hell’s Kitchen’. Additionally, staff signed up for a number of external sponsored events for the hospice such as the Three Peaks challenge, Great Birmingham Run and the London-Paris bike ride. The £125,000 raised represents the largest ever corporate donation Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice has received in its 35-year history.
Since opening its doors in 1979 the Hospice has provided care, free-of-charge for tens of thousands of people living with terminal illness across Birmingham and Sandwell. The hospice has an in-patient unit and day hospice but predominantly cares for people in their own homes via its Community and Hospice at Home teams. Currently the hospice has to raise £7.4million annually to fund that care. Charity of the year partnerships are a significant part of the hospice’s fundraising activity.
Theresa Meek, Corporate Fundraising Specialist at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice said: “We started 2014 on a high when Phoenix told us the phenomenal amount their efforts had raised. This shortlisting is the cherry on the cake and is testament to the fact that staff members at the Phoenix Group in Wythall really pulled out all the stops to make our Charity of the Year partnership a huge success. ”
Helen Shelley, spokesperson for the Phoenix Group, said: “We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this charity partnership award. 2013 was a fantastic year for fundraising at the Phoenix Group. We are honoured to have partnered with Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, and this nomination helps show others what we achieved together”
To find out more about supporting Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice through a corporate partnership visit www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/charity-of-the-year
