Racegoers bag a winner at charity day

More than 300 reception guests were among the hundreds more on the rails who attended Ludlow Racecourse’s charity race day in aid of Severn Hospice last month.

Now the final fundraising total has been tallied, with £52,000 confirmed as the proceeds raised from the day’s auctions, raffles, sponsorships, and feature race the Severn Hospice Charity Race, ridden by amateur jockeys who each had to raise a minimum of £500 in sponsorship to compete.

Severn Hospice, which cares for more than 2,000 families a year in Shropshire and Mid Wales living with an incurable illness, has announced plans for a £5 million development at its Shrewsbury and Telford sites.

It wants to add more facilities and buildings to ensure it is best equipped for the increasing numbers of patients it cares for, most of whom are still living at home rather than staying in wards.

Norma Ross, Severn Hospice director of income generation, said: “Our race day was focused on fundraising for our future plans and I am so grateful to our guests, sponsors, supporters and all the racegoers for their generosity.

“We have to raise £2 for every £3 we spend and to receive such support on the day was just fantastic. We can only provide the care we do with the community’s continued commitment but we never take it for granted,” she added.

Severn Hospice now cares for four out of five patients in their homes rather than on its wards, with more people being looked after for longer, and with a greater range of conditions and more complex needs.

Its response is to expand its two hospice sites in Telford and Shrewsbury so they offer more services to people who need its care but are not staying overnight.

Planners have approved proposals at Apley Castle, Telford, which will extend the building, enhancing visitor and communal spaces, and allow a larger therapy area for day patients. Some work to add more capacity is already taking place now.

At Bicton, Shrewsbury, the charity has approval for a new building to house therapy suites, treatment rooms, visitor facilities, learning resources and rehabilitation services.

The schemes are jointly part of the hospice’s ‘Living Well’ concept – where patient care and support extends well beyond wards and inpatient services, enabling and supporting people to live as well as they can within the constraints of a terminal illness.

The charity is planning more events and fundraising activities to support its plans, which the community is being urged to support.