Lunch with Jane McDonald raises £12K for Wakefield Hospice

The event, held at Leeds United FC’s Centenary Pavilion, saw over 400 people enjoy a lunch and Q&A with Jane, with a number of guests also taking part in a meet and greet experience with the singer, which included a professional photo.

Adding her backing to the appeal, Jane spoke at the event and urged local people to get involved to help the charity.

She said: “It was an honour to speak at this event and kick start the hospice’s resilience campaign.

"The Hospice provides a truly invaluable service to our local community, not only for the patients but also for their friends and families. That’s why I’m also backing the resilience appeal to raise money so the hospice can keep supporting the families and local community that rely on its services.

"Please support the campaign – it’s so vital.”

The appeal sets out to raise £250K to contribute towards the £4.2 million annual running costs of the hospice of which 75% is made up through fundraising efforts.

Helen Knowles, Director of Income Generation, at Wakefield Hospice said: “The pandemic has hugely impacted the hospice, both financially and operationally.

"We are committed to fight back this year with our resilience appeal and generate more income than ever to ensure we continue to provide specialist care for our patients and their families.

"That’s why Jane’s support of the hospice is so important, and we are very grateful for her time to help raise much needed funds for patient care.

“The expressions of support we’ve already received from local people and businesses alike is fantastic, and a reflection of how important and valued the work the hospice does is. There’s a long way to go, and we need as many people as possible to get behind our resilience appeal to help us reach our £250k goal.”

A programme of resilience appeal fundraising events and campaigns will be announced soon, and the hospice will be urging the local community to join in and provide support wherever they are able to.

For more information and to donate towards the appeal, visit the Wakefield Hospice website.