Special recognition for dedicated Speke fundraisers

For many of the people who visit the popular New Mersey Shopping Park in Speke, the few days before Christmas are quite rightly a very hectic period. But, Pat Fagan, and her colleagues at the Marie Curie Speke Fundraising Group, have busied themselves on the Park for an entirely different reason over the past 7 years.

Speke resident, Pat, 64, has been a Marie Curie volunteer for 15 years. She is one of several dedicated fundraisers who yet again did the Christmas collection at New Mersey between December 19-24 in aid of the Marie Curie Hospice in Woolton Village.

The Group is one of the most successful on Merseyside, thanks to their hard work on the Park for both the Christmas and the Great Daffodil Appeal in March. Since their formation 15 years ago they have raised a staggering £70,000.

Praising the generosity of the Park management and retailers, Pat comments:

“During our many years association with New Mersey we’ve encountered nothing but kindness from both the park staff, and all those who work in the various shops who have made us feel so welcome and safe. 

“The funds our group raise at the park help support the fantastic care provided at the Marie Curie Hospice in Woolton Village.  Without the kindness of the owners and staff at the park we simply couldn’t raise as much as we do to help provide care and support to local people suffering with cancer and other terminal illnesses.”

New Mersey Manager, Colin Gilligan has been an admirer of Pat and her colleagues since they first came onto the Park. Presenting Pat, Group Chair Sandra Fitzgerald and other volunteers with a bouquet of flowers, he remarked: “Pat and her colleagues not only work very hard for the benefit of others, but do so in a cheerful way. They are a real credit to the community, and we are privileged to be one of their supporters.”

The Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool, provides specialist medical and nursing care, with the expert help of multi-disciplined healthcare professionals, to 1,150 local people suffering with cancer and other terminal illnesses each year. 

20th December 2011