Eye Friends Group celebrate 25 years
The St Elizabeth Hospice, Eye Friends Group has announced it will be disbanding after 25 years of supporting the independent Suffolk charity and raising more than £154,000 for the hospice in the process.
Set up in 1998, by Doris Seagers, with Doris initially raising £100, the group has now gone on to raise £154,161 for St Elizabeth Hospice, which every year provides free care to over 3,000 people in East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney living with a progressive or life-limiting illness.
Celia Joseph, community & projects fundraising manager at the hospice, said: “It is amazing what has been achieved by the Hospice Eye Friends Group from fruition to now and we cannot thank all the members over this time for all they have done to raise this phenomenal amount to support the work of St Elizabeth Hospice and raise awareness about the work of the hospice.
“Every penny the group have raised has helped the hospice care for people throughout the local community during difficult times in their lives, while also enabling the expansion of our services to support more people throughout the region.”
From coffee mornings, Gala concerts and selling Christmas cards, through to last year’s hat exhibition and parade in memory of much-loved Eye resident and former chairwoman of Eye Friends Group, Joan Maynard, the group has raised funds for the hospice via a range of imaginative fundraising activities over the years.
Although the group is stopping, a number of the individual members, including Caroline Belgrave and Elaine Calvert, will carry on supporting and fundraising for the hospice, which the St Elizabeth Hospice team are extremely grateful for.
Elaine and Caroline said: “The group would like to thank all supporters past and present who supported Eye Friends Group and St Elizabeth Hospice over the years. It has been a privilege to support such a wonderful charity and the local community really has got behind all that we have done in aid of the hospice.
“Going forward, in the future, any donations people wish to make towards St Elizabeth Hospice can be passed to Caroline Belgrave who will forward them to the hospice.”
