'Proud to support such a great cause' - Hartlepool firm backs town's hospice

Julie Hildreth, left, senior fundraising manager, and Paula Tempest, clinical lead at Alice House, with Martin Smith, director of Mayfield Insurance Brokers.

Mayfield Insurance Brokers has joined the Alice House Hospice Guild of Patrons – a group of businesses which each pledge a donation of £5,000 a year to keep the charity’s vital services running.

The firm, which is based in Harbour Walk, Hartlepool has supported Alice House since it opened in 2017 and have been involved in a number of projects including paying for Netflix accounts for all patient rooms and sponsoring charity golf days.

Mayfield Director Martin Smith said “We are proud to support such a great cause that we are incredibly fortunate to have on our doorstep for the benefit of our community.

Alice House Hospice, in Wells Avenue, Hartlepool.

"Whilst it has been good to support the hospice on an ad-hoc basis in the past, after speaking to the fundraising team we realised that it is through regular giving that it can more effectively budget for the months and years ahead, so we are delighted to join the Guild of Patrons."

He added: “We look forward to developing an even closer relationship in the years ahead.”

Senior fundraising manager at Alice House, Julie Hildreth said: “We have seen fantastic support from Mayfield for a number of years now and already have a great relationship with Martin and his team, so we were really happy when we heard they wanted to join our Guild.

"This is a way for us to work closely with some fantastic businesses and help to sustain the care services that our hospice provides to local patients and their families.

"We would like to say a big thank you to Mayfield and all of the other members of the Guild of Patrons for their continued support.”

Alice House Hospice, in Wells Avenue, Hartlepool, is a registered charity offering specialist palliative care, counselling and support to hundreds of adults from Hartlepool and East Durham each year.

It costs £3.5m to continue providing the current range of services a year, yet the Hospice only receives 20% of that in Government funding.

The outstanding £2.8m must be raised through the local community.

To learn more about the Guild of Patrons, email Julie on [email protected]

For information on other ways to help at Alice House Hospice, go to www.alicehousehospice.co.uk/get-involved/corporate/