Young swimmers dive into fundraiser for Alice House Hospice

Members of Hartlepool’s Aqua Force Swimming Academy and their families took part in Alice House Hospice’s Annual Santa Fun Run in December, raising what has been described as ‘a fantastic’ £1,000.

The group, who have been community partners of the hospice since 2012, have taken part in previous Santa Fun Runs, the hospice’s It’s a Knockout competition and helped with numerous bucket collections.

Janice Forbes, community fundraiser at the hospice, said: “It was great to go to Mill House to see the swimmers in action and meet with the chairman and coaches.

“The support shown for hospice care by Aqua Force has been tremendous and we look forward to our relationship continuing to grow.

“They are a wonderful bunch and I would like to thank everyone who sponsored the Aqua Force team and helped them achieve this incredible total.”

Alice Middleton, head coach at Aqua Force said: “We appreciate what a fantastic job the hospice does, providing care and comfort to a lot of families in Hartlepool and it was a pleasure to get involved in the Santa Run and show our support.

“We all really enjoyed ourselves, it was a great morning of fun and festive spirit and a great way to start Christmas and bring families together.

“A huge well done to our swimmers and families who managed to raise £1,000. 
“We hope this goes a long way to helping the hospice and we look forward to continuing to support in the New Year.”

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

It costs £2.34million to continue providing the current range of services. The hospice receives 24% per cent NHS funding so the outstanding £1,780,000 must be raised through fundraising.