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News

New Milton Care Home Dancing to Raise Funds this ‘OAKtober’

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24-Hour Danceathon for Oaktober

Mornington Court Cinnamon Care in New Milton is the latest local business to announce it will be taking part in Oakhaven Hospice’s brand-new and exciting fundraising initiative, OAKtober.

On Friday 20th October, Mornington Court Homes Admissions Advisor, Lisa Walsh, will be starting a 24-hour Danceathon to raise money for the hospice. Follow Lisa's Danceathon live at facebook.com/MorningtonCourtCare. If you would like to spur her on to keeeeep dancing, please find Lisa's Justgiving page here.

Lisa will be joined at Mornington Court throughout the day and night by a number of local VIPs as she dances non-stop for 24 hours. The event will be streamed live on social media for those who want to follow the action from home.

In addition to the danceathon, Mornington Court will be hosting a number of other fundraising events during the month of ‘OAKtober’, including Kara-OAK-e and a staff step challenge.

‘OAKtober’ is Oakhaven’s latest fundraising initiative where individuals, businesses, schools and community groups can take on any fundraising challenge or organise any fundraising event during the month of October to raise money for Oakhaven Hospice. Ideas could include a bake sale, taking on a physical challenge or simply taking part in the ‘Wear It Green’ Day on Friday 20th October.

All funds raised by OAKtober will support Oakhaven Hospice’s free-of-charge services for patients and their loved ones at the most difficult of times, both in the hospice and in homes throughout the New Forest, Totton and Waterside communities.

Natalie Hutchins, Corporate Fundraising Manager at Oakhaven Hospice, said, “We are delighted that local businesses and organisations are joining our fundraising month OAKtober, with so many original ideas. There is still time for other local businesses, schools and organisations to join the OAKtober fun. Every penny raised will help Oakhaven to make every moment matter for patients and their loved ones throughout our communities.”

Click here to find out more about OAKtober and how to get involved, call the Fundraising Team on 01590 670 346 or email fundraising@oakhavenhospice.co.uk.

Mornington Court care home in New Milton

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Artfully Oakhaven raises £9,000 for the hospice

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Artfully Oakhaven at Lymington Masonic Hall, September 2023

Artfully Oakhaven auction and exhibition

Throughout September, we held our biennial Artfully Oakhaven online auction and we're delighted to report that Artfully Oakhaven 2023 has raised £9,000.

Over 100 works of art were generously donated by local artists for the auction, which launched online at the beginning of September. The art was displayed at a special exhibition at Lymington Masonic Hall from 22nd to 24th September. Around 400 people visited the exhibition over the course of the weekend and 200 bids were made for the works of art.

A wide range of art for all ages

The range of art on offer in this year's auction was impressive, with oil paintings, watercolours, etchings, prints, sculptures and much more - making the collection highly desirable for all ages.

This year's youngest Artfully auction bidder was art lover 8-year-old Blake (pictured below), who visited the exhibition with his family. Blake took a shine to a painting by Peter Ashwood and with the blessing of his parents he placed a bid. He was very excited to have the winning bid, spending his own pocket money and birthday money on the artwork.

Thank you to all who supported Artfully

We would like to thank the artists who so generously donated pieces of art and everyone who supported Artfully Oakhaven. All funds raised will help Oakhaven to provide care and support to patients at end of life - and their loved ones - both at the hospice in Lymington and in own homes throughout our New Forest, Totton and Waterside community.

Our next Artfully Oakhaven auction will take place in September 2025 - please contact fundraising@oakhavenhospice.co.uk if you would like to donate a piece of art.

Forthcoming Oakhaven events

Featured below is a selection of our forthcoming fundraising events - click here to find more!

Wear It Green Day

Wear green and raise funds this Oaktober!

Friday 20th October

Fire and Ice Walk

The ultimate sponsored walk - register now!

Wed 25th October

Oakhaven 10

Ten-mile New Forest trail run - sign up now!

Sunday 19th November

Santa Dash Fun Run

Register for our 3km fun run for all the family!

Sunday 3rd December

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Novices’ 500-mile cycle 500 raises £9,885 for Oakhaven Hospice

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The Scottish Spinners raised £9,885 for Oakhaven Hospice

Scottish Spinners cycle North Coast 500 for Oakhaven

Four courageous friends have cycled the North Coast 500, unsupported over 5 days. All novice cyclists, the ‘Scottish Spinners’ covered 830km and over 10,000 metres of mountains around the Scottish Highlands, all supporting Oakhaven Hospice.

The North Coast 500 is a 516-mile route around the north coast of the Scottish Highlands, starting and ending at Inverness Castle. Regarded as a challenge for endurance cyclists, the route runs through the counties of Inverness-shire, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland and Caithness, also taking in many areas of the North Highland Way.

The Scottish Spinners - Charlie Ryde, Ben Kirby, Aaron Kew and Jordan Mann - didn’t even own bikes before taking on the gruelling NC500! With no real cycling experience, let alone endurance practice, the fab four set off on their epic journey on 12th June 2023.

Day 2 proved to be the most challenging. Charle’s bike cog broke which meant he had to continue with just the highest gears up the hilliest part of the course over the remaining days, this additional challenge he managed without any pushing!

Meanwhile, an exploding pump whilst fixing a puncture meant that Aran and Ben had to cycle 3 miles back the wrong way to fix a tyre. That night the duo didn’t finish their ride until 1 am, with just a jar of peanut butter to keep them going over the last 20 miles of the day!

The Scottish Spinners completed their challenge on 16th June. All the pedalling was well worth the effort: the team has raised a phenomenal £9,885.00 for Oakhaven Hospice.

Jill West, Community Fundraising Manager at Oakhaven Hospice, said, “We would like to thank Charlie, Ben, Aaron and Jordan for taking on this impressive challenge in support of Oakhaven - and everyone who donated and supported them, keeping them going during their epic journey.

“All the funds raised will make a real difference to people facing life-limiting illnesses. Your generosity and kindness have helped Oakhaven Hospice to continue providing vital care and specialist support to patients and their families.”

Oakhaven wouldn’t be here without the generosity of the New Forest, Totton and Waterside communities. Every year we need to raise £8 million to enable us to provide expert end-of-life care and support to patients and their loved ones in our community. By taking part in our fundraising events, raising money in the community, playing in our Oakhaven lottery or donating and buying in our shops, you make a real difference to people living with a diagnosis, facing death or coming to terms with a bereavement.

Click here for some ideas on how you could raise funds for Oakhaven

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Retirement of Prof. Paul Dodson and the appointment of Melville Kendal

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Oakhaven Hospice has announced the appointment of Melville (Mel) Kendal as the new Chair of its Board of Trustees

Mel will bring extensive experience and expertise to the title having served on the trustee Boards of a number of Charities and was Treasurer of Oakhaven Hospice for eight years before being appointed Chairman. He is a former Leader and Chairman of New Forest District Council and a former Deputy Leader and Chairman of Hampshire County Council.

He has served in various Executive Member functions In Hampshire’s Cabinet over 25 years ,most recently overseeing Hampshire’s capital and revenue expenditure for Economic Development and is credited with initiating the Operation Resilience project to rebuild many of Hampshire’s ailing roads. Before that as Environment lead member he pioneered the 20-is-Plenty campaign to reduce speeds outside schools, and the Choose-30 campaign to limit speeds in participating villages to 30mph. For this, he received the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award on behalf of Hampshire County Council.

Mel led on the county’s Energy strategy to make Hampshire less reliant on carbon energy, replacing streetlights with modern energy saving lamps, promoting electric vehicles, and charging points, having authored a paper for the Association of European Regions on the need for uniformity of vehicle charging points and payment methods.

Mel continues to advise private clients in his consultancy business.

Our outgoing Chairman, Prof. Paul Dodson, had a farewell message to share: "It has been a privilege to be involved with Oakhaven for the last eight years, putting patients and families at the forefront of all the continued development of the services. As a Clinician I have been all too aware of the importance of palliative care services and the truly needed care and support their expertise provides to not only patients and families at the end of life but to the wider community. It requires significant expertise in so many areas to continue these services and I pay tribute to the many many volunteers and dedicated staff. My thanks to the great support from the trustees and my very best wishes to the new chairman Mel Kendal in whose very capable hands Oakhaven will continue to thrive."

The Leon Crouch Foundation donates £850,000 to Oakhaven Hospice.

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We are honoured that the daughters of Leon Crouch, Hannah Leonardi, Lara Crouch and Louise Roles have given a donation of £550,000 from The Leon Crouch Foundation to support the work of the Hospice. Continuing the unwavering support shown by their father throughout his lifetime.

Leon’s charitable work was well known and as Hannah Leonardi says ‘Even in death Leon was thinking about how he could continue to help the town that he grew up in and loved.’

‘Our father was a Patron of Oakhaven Hospice, which always remained a cause very close to his heart, therefore it was a fitting place for him to spend his last few days. It gives my sisters, Lara, Louise and I, great pleasure to make a donation to Oakhaven Hospice of £550,000 from the Leon Crouch Foundation so that Oakhaven may continue to touch the lives of so many local people. We feel incredibly proud of our Father’s commitment to helping others beyond his lifetime’

Andrew Ryde, Chief Executive said ‘We are incredibly grateful to Leon for his contribution to the Hospice, this generous donation will assist us with the expansion of our services. This funding will help towards increasing our bedded provision to ensure that we can continue to meet the need of the community for end-of-life support here at the hospice. As well as helping to develop a dedicated education facility to support carers and healthcare professionals to provide the best level of end-of-life care for all.’

Since this donation the family have pledged to a further donation of £300,000 to meet the gap in funding. Thereby allowing this expansion to take place.

Oakhaven Trustee, Dr David Butler, thanked as he retires

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Dr David Butler recently stepped down from the Board of Trustees after being a member since July 2013. Professor Paul Dodson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees presented David with a leaving gift on behalf of the Board and thanked him for his 9 years of service as a Trustee.
David worked with the team at Oakhaven on the Clinical Governance Group for many years and latterly as a Locum Consultant from late 2011 to 2014.
David’s expertise in palliative care has been of great value to the Board and we will miss his wisdom and friendship.
We wish David every happiness in his retirement.