Hospice Fundraising Update - February 2026

A MESSAGE FROM THE 150^TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM

What a wonderful year of Spirit-filled celebration and gratitude for the 150 years of our beautiful Church. We have come together as the family of St Werburgh’s in thanks for the generosity and sacrifice of those who built the Church, a place where all are welcome, a sacred place.

In response to the words of Pope Francis, “In prayer, God keeps calling us, opening our hearts to charity”, we chose to show our gratitude in this celebratory year by supporting The Hospice of the Good Shepherd. Our community rose to the challenge and has been amazing in its response. We set a fundraising target of £15,000 and you smashed it, raising over £25,000!

The ideas bubbled up from you, the parishioners of St Werburgh’s, a lovely blend of prayerful events, historical research and imaginative fundraising activities. The Thanksgiving Dinner was a joyous occasion and the ‘St Werburgh Week’ has been a memorable and fitting closure to this year of celebration.

The tremendous efforts of so many willing volunteers and supporters in getting behind the fundraising projects has shown how much the work of the Hospice is valued in the community. We have:

• crafted bookmarks and Easter wreaths;
• seen needles fly furiously to create hundreds of Easter Eggs hats for our Easter sales;
• tested our engineering and creative skills, developing our very own Lego model of St Werburgh’s;
• created the mouthwatering 2am Cookbook showcasing parishioners much loved recipes from across the world;
• Supported the Hospice Christmas cards and the Parish wild flower and cake bake sales as well as the High School’s Christmas fair
• Hosted concerts for visiting choirs and musicians;
• Penned a number of books from Zosia’s book “St Werburgh and the Mystery Box” Thomas Burke book to prayer books and a history book;
• Hosted our Summer fete, including the amazing domino challenge, which brought so many of us together to enjoy each other’s company!

Those fundraising efforts were supported by Parishioners’ generous donations both private and those celebrating weddings, funerals and more... I

It costs approximately £1000 a day to provide a bed, medical care and compassion in the hospice, you have provided 25 days of very special care!

Thank you Werbies, thank you.

St Werburgh’s 150th Anniversary Team

Your fundraising achievements