Times are tough and many charities are experiencing a significant drop in income as events are cancelled, charity shops are closed and collection boxes are redundant.

Fundraising teams are being tested more than ever to bring in donations so that day-to-day services can continue and service users receive the care they desperately need.

For St. Joseph’s Hospice, in Merseyside, the challenge has been even greater as the team of two are both brand new in post. Head of fundraising, Maxine Armstrong, only started at the hospice in February and fundraiser, Zoe Furnivall, joined at Christmas. In March, the pair were facing the start of their first hospice events season with no events.

The work of the hospice never stops, with 29 in-patients receiving high quality end of life nursing care, so the funds are still desperately needed. The new team have had to start from scratch to create a programme of brand new virtual events and online initiatives and they’re appealing to the local community to join in.

Here are some of the ways you can support the hospice over the coming months…

Virtual Bucket Collection – with face to face collections cancelled for the foreseeable future, the hospice has launched a virtual collection where you can just ‘drop some change’ in the virtual bucket by texting STJOSEPHS 3 to 70085 (to donate £3). Texts cost £3 plus one standard message rate.

Go the EXTRA mile - Every single day, hospice nurses, carers, cleaners, laundry staff and cooks go the extra mile to care for hospice patients so, now, they’re asking you to go the Extra Mile for the hospice. Just challenge yourself to walk (at least) a mile a day around your house and garden. Then simply fundraise through our Extra Mile campaign on Just Giving.

Host a Virtual Party - Coffee morning, games night, quizzes, prosecco & pamper, karaoke - get together with your family and friends over Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts or Houseparty, have fun and raise money for the hospice!

Donate your Cup of Coffee - While we can't go out for coffee, donate the cost of your regular cup of coffee to support the hospice. Text SJHCOFFEE to 70085 to donate £3. Texts cost £3 plus one standard message rate.

Be a Gaming Hero - Do you love gaming? Why not take part in a gaming marathon and get sponsored?

Join the Hospice Lottery and be in with a chance of winning the £1,000 weekly jackpot plus other cash prizes. Visit www.jospice.org.uk.

Shop Online - Go to Amazon Smile and choose 'St Joseph's Hospice Merseyside' as your chosen charity. Then, just shop as normal and 0.5% of the purchase price on eligible purchases comes to the hospice. Or, sign up with Easy Fundraising and choose 'St Joseph's Hospice - Thornton' as your chosen charity. There are over 4,000 retailers registered and when you shop with any of them through the Easy Fundraising site, you will raise donations for the hospice.

Maxine Armstrong, head of fundraising at St. Joseph’s Hospice, said: “There’s no doubt that charities are really struggling right now but our work continues as we care for our patients day and night so we have to keep raising money.

“Without our usual calendar of events to run, we have had to come up with new ways of engaging with our supporters and bringing donations in. We’ve organised some really easy and affordable ways of supporting the hospice as well as some more exciting challenges for those who are looking for something to get stuck in to.

“Please visit the fundraising pages on our website for all the details and help us by sharing these virtual events with your own friends and family. Let us know what you’re doing and, don’t forget, we’re here to support you so that you can support us so please get in touch if there is anything we can do to help.”

New hospice fundraisers - Maxine Armstrong and Zoë Furnivall