GM Fundraising: So who are Hope House?

Much has been publicised about GM Fundraising and in particular their cycling adventures which have taken teams of riders, primarily from the glazing industry, across the UK and even the USA. Every penny raised goes directly to Hope House Children’s Hospices. But who are they? David Featherstone, chief executive, talks about Hope House and the massive contribution that GM Fundraising and indeed, the glazing industry has made to it.

Hope House – A potted history
Hope House was named after a child, Hope Peachey, who died aged just eight months. We opened in May 1995 and more than 450 terminally ill children and their families have been cared for at our centre in Morda, near Oswestry and at our sister hospice Ty Gobaith in Conwy, North Wales. Hope House and Ty Gobaith were both purpose built to cater for the special needs and requirements of children who visit from Shropshire, Cheshire, Powys and North Wales.

Our service is free of charge to all families no matter what their circumstances. In fact Hope House never closes; we are here 24 hours a day, all year round, to help whenever we are needed. Demand for our service is such that we have a new project on the drawing board, but more about that later.

So what does Hope House offer?
Hope House was designed to take a total of eight children in specially designed single rooms with up to five families accompanying them in separate accommodation. In very exceptional circumstances two extra beds can be brought into use when emergencies arise. The majority of the care is planned respite, giving families a break, but we are also there when the end of life stage is inevitably reached.

We have a large playroom, computer room, hydrotherapy pool - used for regular physiotherapy sessions, multi-sensory room, large communal dining room, lounges for families and parents and a well-equipped music room where the children and their siblings enjoy music therapy sessions. We also have a 'snowflake room' or special bedroom which enables the family to stay close to their child after they have died and before the funeral.

Our outreach team of community nurses support families who wish to be cared for in their homes if their child is too sick to visit the hospice and our experienced social workers and bereavement counsellors work extensively with family members, often for many years after the death of a child.

Hope House and GM Fundraising 
The first fundraising event was the Gala Dinner at Stratford-upon-Avon in 2000, which raised £24,000, an impressive contribution in just one evening. Over the last 10 years GM Fundraising has raised over half a million pounds through gala dinners, golf days and more recently and dare I say more grandeur, the cycling adventures.

Gary continues to pull together a great and committed team of individuals who give their time and effort to the charity. Each fundraising activity seems to instil a sense of enjoyment for all those participating, though cycling through the extremes of the USA would push anybody to their limits. It still delights me and all those involved at the hospice just how well GM Fundraising is supported by the glazing industry.

How is the money raised by GM Fundraising used?   
Bed costs are a bit crude because as a statistic, it ignores the home nursing service, social work and counselling. What I prefer to use is cost per family supported, which is about £11,000 per annum. So GMF have supported the full cost of looking after 50 families. Obviously it varies from year to year with the monies raised from the Ride 4 Hope USA epic particularly significant and the contribution from that event alone was £91,000.

How else do you fundraise?
Fundraising is a daily challenge and we have no guarantee what we’ll get tomorrow, in fact the contribution from government is due to fall by nearly half in 2011. We have 13 charity shops which are well supported by local communities and a team of  dedicated fundraisers.

Corporate support is limited, but clubs, societies, cubs and brownies, schools, workplace events, fun days, parachute jumps and just about anything you can think of all make a difference. It’s the pennies that help build the pounds which in turn make up the thousands of pounds that we need each year to run the hospices.

What challenges will you face over the next few years?
Like many other charities, keeping in front of the public in the face of emotive, but entirely justified, publicity about world disasters is a major challenge. It’s often an either or donation in the public’s eye. When times are tough i.e. in a recession or just after one, both individuals and corporations are less likely to support charities. Unfortunately it’s a fact of life.

The phasing out of Government support in the current economic climate, stagnation of NHS contributions as their budgets tighten and continually rising running costs are challenges that we face every day. For example a 1% rise in staff salaries (to keep up with the NHS, with whom we compete for staff) costs Hope House £40,000 in a year. This year the pay award for NHS staff is the third year of a binding agreement (2.25%) which we have had to match and it will cost us an extra £120,000.

What’s next for Hope House?
On a more positive note, we shall start building a children and family bereavement counselling centre later this year at a cost of just over £1M.

There is a tremendous need for dedicated space as we now also respond to the needs of the surviving child victims of family murder, suicide, road traffic accidents, drowning etc. We are a centre of excellence in such matters and there isn’t a lot more of it on offer, so it’s important that we fully support these children and their families, as well as those who die from a terminal illness.

On a final note I would just like to thank Gary, his committed fundraising committee and the glazing industry for their continued and valuable support. You’ve made a big difference for many families and we hope you find it in your heart to help many, many more in the future.

David Featherstone
Chief Executive
Hope House Children’s Hospices

Annual costs and resources
Families currently cared for: 434
Hope House care costs: £1.75M
Ty Gobaith care costs: £1.1M
Social Work/counselling/home care: £650,000
Total care costs per annum: £3.5M
Total received from NHS/Government in 2009: £668,000 (just 19% of costs, but this is due to fall to 10% in 2011)
Staff employed: 180 (equivalent to 160 whole time employees)

 

Email: gary@garymorton.co.uk
www.gmfundraising.co.uk