Local enterprise agency help maintain welcoming exterior of St Elizabeth Hospice
Employees from local business, NWES, volunteered their time to stain the fences at St Elizabeth Hospice.
Five women from the Ipswich and Sudbury offices of NWES, an enterprise agency that specialise in helping people start their own businesses in East Anglia, offered to volunteer at the Hospice for a day as it is a cause close to their heart.
Alison Morrissey, Senior Co-ordinator, said: “One of our staff members was in the Hospice a while ago so we offered to come in and help out where we could. Staining the fences was just something that needed doing that didn’t require too much skill!
“We wanted to take on a corporate challenge and decided to volunteer across the county to give something back.”
Sarah Payne, Admin Co-ordinator, added: “I think most people are touched by the Hospice at one time or another, including us, and we wanted to show our support.”
St Elizabeth Hospice is a local charity which strives to build mutually beneficial relationships with the local business community. There are many ways companies can support the Hospice and help it to improve the lives of those living with a progressive illness, including volunteering for a day.
St Elizabeth Hospice’s Business Partnerships Team Leader, Sarah Archer, said: “We are grateful to NWES for supporting the Hospice and volunteering to help us maintain the Hospice’s exterior. It may seem like a small thing, but it’s important to us to keep the Hospice well maintained and looking welcoming for our patients and their families and carers.”
Mrs Archer added: “This week is National Volunteers’ Week and we would like to take this opportunity to thank and celebrate all our volunteers who give their time to help and support the Hospice. We have over 1,000 volunteers and they save us around £1m a year, but to us they are priceless.”
Jewsons in Ipswich contributed by donating some of the materials used to stain and varnish the fences.
Dean Ager, Branch Manager at Jewsons, said: “I’m delighted to help out my local Hospice in any way I can.”
St Elizabeth Hospice provides local Hospice care to local people in Suffolk and South Norfolk.
If you or your company would like to support St Elizabeth Hospice, please contact Sarah Archer on 01473 723600 or email sarah.archer@stelizabethhospice.org.uk