LANCASHIRE families have raised £12,000 for Derian House Children’s Hospice by turning their homes into festive wonderlands. From Chorley to Morecambe, more than 25 families took part in the hospice’s Deck the Halls event, forming a trail of extravagantly decorated houses in the run up to Christmas. The ‘Highland Drive Elves’ of Buckshaw Village raised more than £500 for the hospice. Head elf Marian Fraser said that when she and her husband Graham started decorating, their neighbours got on board too. “It really cheered everyone up, especially with lockdown,” said Marian. “It’s the first time I’ve been involved with any fundraising like this and I’m amazed at the amount we raised.”
Linda Miller with her husband Jim LEYLAND super-gran Linda Miller knitted 420 snowmen in 2020, to support the children’s hospice Derian House. The 73-year-old carried on knitting despite having to spend time in hospital last year to recover from two heart attacks. Linda, who has impaired vision but has been been knitting snowmen for the hospice for six years, raised a bumper £635 during the pandemic. “We’ve been inundated!” said Linda. “I’ve sold all 420 snowmen I made this year and lots of people were saying ‘take a fiver and keep the change’ because they knew it was for Derian House.
A DARWEN man braved the winter weather to cycle 230 miles from London to Chorley to raise money for a children’s hospice. Ryan Walmsley, 21, who is a community ambassador for Derian House Children’s Hospice, took four days to complete the epic journey to raise money for the good cause – which he dubbed the Tour De Derian. The challenge raised £1,880 for Derian House, a Chorley-based charity which cares for more than 400 children and young people with serious conditions from across the North West, helping them to make the most of every moment. Ryan, a Production Supervisor at BAE Systems, began his mammoth cycle on December 7, starting out from the BBC Broadcasting House in London and arriving back at Derian House Children’s Hospice.
Bolton Wanderers weren’t going to let the pandemic stop them from spreading festive cheer this year as they paid socially-distanced visits to three venues across the borough to drop off donated gifts for patients. Captain Antoni Sarceviv and leading goal scorer Eoin Doyle represented the squad as they made special deliveries to Patients Royal Bolton Hospital, Derian House Children’s Hospice and Bolton Hospice. Normally the whole squad visits the venues around Christmas time to make the donations, however, this year due to the pandemic it was decided that the pair would go to meet staff members and drop off the gifts.