Since 2011, Stirling Ackroyd has proudly supported the needs of children and families at the Shooting Star Hospice, a leading children’s hospice charity supporting over 700 children, and their families, throughout Surrey and across 14 boroughs of London, 365 days a year..
The hospice care offers a wide range of services and it takes £8.8 million annually to do so, with only 11% coming from central government funding. “People are surprised that we get less than adult hospices. The children’s hospice sector was established after the adult hospice movement, and so the model is slightly different,” explains Anne Carey, Head of Corporate Engagement for Shooting Star Children’s Hospices. “There is a perception that children’s charities are easy to raise money for, and there is a degree of truth to that, however there are a large number of incredibly worthwhile children’s charities out there so actually fundraising the money we need to operate is really challenging – that is why long term support, like that offered by Stirling Ackroyd, really matters.”
People think of a children’s hospice as a sad place, and sad things do happen here, but it’s a bright and sunny place. Shooting Star Hospice works really hard on memory making, an area of support that their team finds one of the most beautiful parts of their job. We only have one chance to get things right once for families.
Stirling Ackroyd is officially Shooting Star Children’s Hospices longest standing corporate partner, and over the past two decades has raised and donated a staggering £300,000 – a combination of corporate giving and staff fundraising efforts.
Last year Stirling Ackroyd participated in three great events and raised over £30,000 and now the team are looking forward to doing it all over again in 2023.
2022 saw our colleagues take part in Snowdon Sunrise Walk, a 140-mile bike ride around our branch network and the ‘Shooting Star Apprentice Challenge’. A short survey was sent round and our 2023 calendar of events is looking busy already.
This year we look to take part in:
3rd to 6th April – Easter Baking Challenge
Friday 26th May – Stirling Ackroyd Marathon, aiming to run 26.219 miles
Saturday 22nd July – North Downs Walk with Shooting Star Children Hospice
Sunday 24th September – Stirling Ackroyd take on Tough Mudder
Monday 4th December – Charity Shop Take Over.
Not only are we all for taking part in activities and events, this year we have been given the chance to fund an apprentice at Shooting Star Children’s Hospice.
“Our colleagues at Stirling Ackroyd are always keen to support the inspirational and invaluable work of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices. We’ve raised hundreds of thousands of pounds as a corporate partner for many years and we’re always on the lookout for new ways to support the charity.
Charities are not immune to the current recruitment and retention challenges faced by many employers, and we’re delighted to offer our support by sponsoring the apprenticeship for an individual, to finance the associated training costs and ensure the role is viable for the charity.”
Dominic Easterby, Group HR Director
“Thank you to Stirling Ackroyd for funding our new apprentice through the Apprenticeship Levy scheme. This has given us the opportunity to take on a young apprentice into a developmental role. Our aim is to provide a solid understanding of business administration within our organisation whilst supporting our apprentice to gain her level 3 qualification. We are very grateful to be able to trial this recruitment route.”
Judith Rudman, Care Admin Team Leader at Shooting Start Childrens Hospice
For more information and to stay up to date with our events this year, make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
