St. Joseph’s Hospice was due to host its annual Spring Ladies Day at Formby Hall on Sunday (19th April), one of the biggest events in its fundraising calendar.
Due to the coronavirus crisis and current social distancing measures, the event was cancelled last month but, in order to mark the occasion, engage with valued hospice supporters and attempt to raise some money along the way, the hospice’s fundraising team decided to host its first ever Virtual Ladies Day.
Maxine Armstrong, head of fundraising, said: “We had to cancel our Spring Ladies Day when the coronavirus outbreak began and social distancing measures came in. However, as the day of the event approached, we decided that we couldn’t let the day go by without making something of it. It was also a great opportunity to test out new technologies that we hadn’t used before.
“We contacted all the performers who were due to take part in the event and, thankfully, they all agreed to record a mini-performance from their own homes. We had two fantastic singers, Scott Chapman and Samantha Leslie, and a brilliant magician, Dan Misson. We also held a raffle from the beautiful hospice grounds and broadcasted everything through Facebook Live.”
The virtual event was a brilliant success raising over £1,000 for the hospice with 4.6k views and hundreds of people engaging with the event through likes and comments.
Hospice fundraiser, Zoë Furnivall, added: “We’d like to thank everyone for supporting us on Sunday. This was something we had never done before but it was a fantastic way to engage with a really important group of our long term supporters and the response we had was incredible. Our supporters really got in to the spirit of it; they even got dressed up and danced around their gardens enjoying a glass or two of bubbles.
“It just goes to show that there is still so much support out there and, if anything, the current challenges are bringing people together in new ways. As a fundraising team, it’s really important that we continue to engage with our supporters as they are so important to the hospice.
“We have launched lots of new ways for our supporters to get involved and show their support during these difficult times, including some fantastic new virtual events. Please take a look at our website www.jospice.org.uk and click on fundraising for more details or give us a call on 0151 932 6044 or email fundraising@jospice.org.uk.”
It's not too late to watch our Virtual Ladies Day - visit our Facebook Page and enjoy some fantastic entertainment. Please support us by texting LADIESDAYDON 10 to 70085 to donate £10 to the hospice. Texts cost £10 plus one standard message rate.
