Grateful for all community support

Lockdown has been a challenge for many people but the support of the local community has been tremendous. Every day here at HHCC we are hearing stories of volunteers who have come together with a shared purpose to raise funds and make a difference in their local community. The friendships they have formed through working together have been wonderful to hear about.

Many of you will have taken part in the Doorstep Portraits Project where Stacey, Lianne, Nicole, Rachael and Sarah offered their photography skills to capture families during lockdown. This wonderful project not only provided beautiful photos, memories and opportunities to bring hope during a difficult time, but it also raised a phenomenal £7,500 for HHCC! Thank you to those wonderfully talented photographers but also to the families who donated for the pictures which were taken. The project was also shortlisted for a Telegraph Lockdown Award and was in the top three of 1500 nominations!

Another fantastic community event was the HG Community Lockdown Fest. This was an online festival carried out over the early May bank holiday weekend, and raised over £1,000. Harrogate Town AFC joined in with the HG Community Lockdown Fest, and did a Live Shirt Auction which raised a whopping £6,161.00.

Have you seen our fantastic spring raffle and the brilliant prizes that are on offer? By entering our raffle, you are helping us do more for our colleagues, patients and their families during this difficult time. Tickets are electronic and £2 each. You are in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes such as 2 x Directors Suite tickets to Leeds Rhinos, Amazon Fires HD with Alexa, products from Neom, Fairfax & Favor, Slingsby Gin and much more! Thank you to all of those wonderful individuals and businesses who have provided prizes for us. Buy your tickets now - https://hhcc.co.uk/shop/hhcc-online-spring-raffle/

Some of our younger fundraisers have found creative ways to raise money for HHCC. Ten-year-old twins Evie and Izzy have used their crafting and creative skills to fundraise. The girls were keen to show their support in these difficult times so decided to set up a community craft stall. They raised an amazing £175! Robbie aged 12 and April aged 9 held a cake sale on their driveway and raised an amazing £121.29!

Harrogate & District Got Talent is a spectacular online talent contest which is raising money for HHCC! Velton and the group are hoping to raise £2,000 for HHCC whilst showcasing some amazing local talent! Check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/538634320133753/about/

We are excited to bring you our line of HHCC Merchandise line, including water bottles and tote bags. When you order these items you are supporting HHCC directly whilst benefitting from the quality products on offer! Go to: https://hhcc.co.uk/shop/

Many of you will be aware of the wonderful staff store we have. I would like to thank everyone who has donated to this and who has contributed funds and goods. There has been a brilliant response to stocking and maintaining items for this. A Facebook group has recently been started with a sole purpose of supporting the staff store and HHCC directly. We are so grateful for all the help and support.

If you would like to get in touch to support the staff store, please make contact with us directly or consider looking at the ‘Supporters of Harrogate Hospital Pop Up Shop’ on Facebook. We have been sending items to our wonderful community teams who are working tirelessly to keep families and service users supported and safe with their healthcare needs during very difficult times. Thank you to everyone who has supported our teams with this.

If you would like to donate to HHCC to help us do more for patients and their families you can do so; on our website: https://hhcc.co.uk/donate/ or by post by sending a cheque (payable to Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity) to: Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity, Planning Department, 3rd Floor, Strayside Wing, Harrogate District Hospital, Lancaster Park Road, Harrogate, HG2 7SX.

As ever, thank you all for your fantastic support. Keep safe!