From organising street parties to walking across hot coals, there’s not much Margaret hasn’t done to raise money for St Barnabas!
It all started 31 years ago when Margaret’s dear friend was cared for in the Hospice on Nettleham Road, Lincoln. It was Margaret’s first visit to St Barnabas, and she was blown away by the extraordinary care and kindness of everyone she met. Her friend had been fundraising for St Barnabas for the last six years, and Margaret knew she had to carry on her legacy and pick up where she sadly had to stop.
Margaret was a dab hand at gathering people together for coffee mornings and quickly took the fundraising efforts to the next level with her renowned strawberry teas. And after organising a small street party for neighbours, Margaret found herself staging them for an entire village year after year! As her fundraising grew, she recruited an army of helpers who formed a fundraising committee and there was no stopping them. Setting up street stalls, organising bucket collections, giving community talks, helping with plant sales, craft fairs, golf days, summer fayres and sporting events – the list goes on. In between all that they made crafts and cakes to sell, stuffed envelopes in the office and made bacon rolls at midnight (more than once!) to help the fundraising team.
Margaret has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds over the years. She has been integral to keeping our Hospice services running day-to-day and getting new services off the ground, including our Hospice at Home offering.
And she was there to see the Lincoln building on Hawthorn Road opened by Princess Alexandra too! While Margaret wasn’t in the line-up to meet her (as she was when Prince William visited), she did catch several glimpses. Margaret and two others discretely crawled around as Princess Alexandra made her way through the building. However, they weren’t quite as discreet as they thought as they found out when Princess Alexandra commented, “Oh, it’s you three again is it?”.
St Barnabas has been and continues to be a big part of Margaret’s life. Even into her eighties she still has boundless enthusiasm and energy, and intends to keep going for as long as she can. And we’re delighted!
In her own words…
“It’s the people that make St Barnabas a special place. It’s always there when people need it, just like we’re always there to help the Hospice. What we give to the Hospice it gives us back through a sense of purpose, so much fun and that feel-good factor. I’m so proud of St Barnabas.”
To see all 40 Faces and their stories, please visit: https://stbarnabashospice.co.uk/40faces