Over the two months, our team has had the privilege of sharing both our time and resources in support of St Helena Hospice — a Colchester-based charity that provides specialist end-of-life care and support to people living with incurable illness, as well as their families and carers.

Each year, the hospice supports over 4,000 people across north east Essex through a range of services — from specialist inpatient care at Myland Hall and outreach via Hospice-in-the-Home, to their 24/7 SinglePoint advice line, virtual ward monitoring, and bereavement support for both adults and children.

In addition to medical and emotional care, St Helena fosters compassionate community networks through volunteer-led initiatives in its shops, donation centres, and community workshops.

Their work in the community is essential and relies heavily on fundraising and donations.

As part of our support, we took part in several initiatives, the most notable being our first time joining the St Helena £40 Challenge, an annual fundraising event that encourages teams to grow a £40 investment into as much as possible over 50 days using creativity, collaboration, and community spirit. This year’s challenge was especially significant, marking the charity’s 40th anniversary.

For the challenge, our team decided to expand on our monthly litter picks — a recent sustainability initiative — and invited neighbouring businesses on the Severalls estate to join us for a community litter pick in aid of St Helena. With generous support from Sarah’s Coffee, who helped host and fuel the volunteers with free coffee and tea, we welcomed teams from 8 local businesses and raised £600 for the cause. It was fantastic to see so many people come together to clean up our shared space and support a local charity doing such important work.

Beyond fundraising, members of our team also got stuck in with volunteering efforts. Several colleagues spent time at St Helena’s donation sorting centre in Stanway, Colchester, helping to process donations and prepare items for sale in the charity’s shops. A big thank you to Sally Hedman, Donation Centre Assistant Manager, and her team for the warm welcome and support.

Others lent a hand at the Myland Hall hospice garden, just around the corner from us in Highwoods, Colchester, assisting with garden maintenance to help keep the outdoor spaces beautiful and peaceful for patients and their families. A special thanks to Andy McGowan from the Maintenance team there, who gave his time to guide and support our volunteers on the day.

These experiences have been hugely rewarding for our team, and we’re proud to have played a small part in supporting such a well-loved local organisation. St Helena Hospice continues to make a real difference in the lives of so many in our community, and we look forward to supporting their work again in the future.

To learn more about St Helena Hospice and how you can support their work, visit: www.sthelena.org.uk