And it is all down to Mary and Alan Gillatt, who’ve been running the pop-up store every Christmas for 13 years to raise money for Francis House children’s hospice.

The couple’s involvement with the charity goes back 30 years – even before the hospice was built.

At that time, Mary was chair of the charities commission for McVities and was approached by the person who later became administrator for Francis House asking if, as the biggest employer in the area, McVities would help to fund-raise.

“I remember coming to the Town Hall to see the plans for the hospice,” says Mary, “and we initially raised £10,000 which we thought would furnish and decorate a bedroom.”

Once the hospice was up and running, Mary’s fundraising at McVities helped to buy the hospice its first minibus and together with her work colleagues she ran all kinds of events to help support the charity’s work.

Now retired, Mary and her husband, Alan, who used to run a charity shop for Francis House, are still heavily involved in the work of the hospice. And have raised more than £280,000 through their annual Festival of Trees.

“The idea initially came from David Woodrow, who was the fundraising office manager and had seen a similar scheme on a visit home to Zimbabwe,” Mary explains. “He’d seen decorated Christmas trees around a shopping mall and each was auctioned off for a different charity.

“We didn’t think we could put trees around a mall, but thought about the idea of a shop of trees. We approached the Lowry Outlet, which at that time was owned by Emmerson, and they very generously offered us a unit.”

Since then the Lowry Outlet has offered the charity a unit every year without charge, Mary and Alan run the shop as volunteers, open the same shopping hours as the other Outlet stores, with all funds going directly to Francis House.

“It’s long hours, hard work and we have a domestic now and again,” Mary laughs, “but we love it. We meet loads of lovely people. It’s a great way of putting something back, and I always say whenever you volunteer for anything you will get back far, far more than you ever put in”.

This year there are 52 decorated trees up for auction, all sponsored by different organisations. People place bids on the trees and the highest bidder on the closing date of 8 December gets to take home the fully decorated tree and presents to go under it. And there are some amazing and unusual gifts, including £500 of Selfridges, vouchers, a family holiday to Tunisia, hampers, hand-made decorations, and gifts from the casts of Coronation Street and Cold Feet, as well as sporting stars from Manchester City, Manchester United and Lancashire County Cricket Club.

Sometimes there are heart-felt stories behind the trees, such as when a family sponsored a tree to celebrate what would’ve been their son’s 18th birthday. “Their little boy died when he was two-and-a-half and when he was alive the family had been supported by Francis House,” says Mary. “They didn’t want their son’s 18th birthday to go without doing something special, and 16 years on from losing their son they fund-raised to decorate a tree for us out of the goodness of their hearts. It makes you feel very humble”.

In addition to the tree auction, the shop fund-raises by selling a small number of gifts, toys, crackers and Christmas cards, as well as running a raffle and a festive Wishing Well. There is also a memory tree, where people can write a memory of a loved one on tags provided in the shop and hang it on the tree. When the shop closes on 8 December the tags are transferred to a tree in Francis House which is illuminated for the whole of the festive season.

“The messages make you think. It’s very humbling,” says Mary. “We had a note from a child who wrote: ‘Grandad died at Christmas and if he thought we didn’t celebrate because of him he’d come back and haunt us’. I just think for a child to think like that is amazing.”

The Festival of Trees at The Lowry Outlet, Salford Quays closes on 8 December 2019.

The post Fundraising Festival of Trees lights up The Lowry Outlet appeared first on Quays Life.

The bank holiday event takes place on Good Friday outside the Helly Hanson Water Sports Centre where you can choose a rubber duck for £2 to take part in the main race.

The event is sponsored by the Lowry Outlet, which means that all funds raised by the event will go to directly to support the charity’s work providing paediatric medical equipment and facilities for hospitals and community health teams.

Centre Manager for the Lowry Outlet, Kelly Hurst, says: ‘We are so pleased to be able to sponsor the Quays Duck Race, which is for a brilliant cause, that raises much needed funds for children in Salford and the surrounding areas. The event has a fantastic community spirit to it, which see families enjoying a great day out and raising money for charity’.

The charity is encouraging more businesses to get involved by sponsoring individually decorated Mega Ducks which will open the event with the first race of the day.

The charity is currently fundraising for a number of projects across the region including a hand-held blood analyser and other essential equipment for Salford Royal Hospital’s Paediatric Accident and Emergency Unit.

Currently staff process blood samples in other departments in the hospital, requiring a member of staff to leave the Unit during critical times. The hand-held device could be taken to a patient’s bedside and requires a much smaller amount of blood meaning a far more comfortable process for the patient.

Rachael Baird, the Unit Manager explains: ‘‘Having this device would quicken time critical decisions and improve emergency care, by enabling staff to stay by the patient’s side where they are needed the most’.

The event kicks off at 12.30pm on 19 April 2019 with refreshments, tombola stall and a chance to try out the Helly Hanson Centre climbing wall. The Business Challenge Mega Duck Race starts at 3pm followed by the Big Duckling Race at 3:30pm.

Ghazala Baig, Chief Executive at MedEquip4Kids says: ‘We are so thankful for the fantastic support received from Lowry Outlet and our Mega Duck sponsors. We know that this is going to be the best year yet for the Quays Duck Race which will enable us to support even more children.’

For more details about how your business can sponsor a creatively decorated Mega Duck contact the MedEquip4Kids office on 0161 798 1600 or email info@medequip4kids.org.uk.

Visit the website for more information about the event.

The post Bank holiday charity fun with the Quays Duck Race appeared first on Quays Life.

What drew you to Salford Quays?
I live a few miles away in Mottram, but visit often. It’s a great place to photograph and explore or just meet up with friends. I’ve been to some fantastic events down on the Quays. I love the place, the atmosphere, the buildings, the architecture, the lights and most of all the water. I’ve got a particular affinity with water. My dad was a sailor when he was a young man and I used to work on a cruise ship many moons ago. I spent quite a bit of time abroad too working on a dive boat. I also take fine art underwater photographs, but at the moment I’m focusing on my other business which is selling sports and yoga clothing.

Why sports clothing?
I’ve been really interested in yoga for a long time because of the health benefits. It has really helped me and lots of people I know.

Several years ago my dad became ill with Alzheimer’s, so in order to care for him I needed a business that I could do from home which would also help nurture my creative side. I started designing yoga pants using abstract images created by manipulating my photography which I then sold online and at the occasional trade show.
Sadly dad died a year ago, so now I’m using the business to try to raise much needed funds for two charities which help families like ours who have had the heartbreak of losing a loved one to this horribly cruel disease.

How are you raising the money?
After dad died, I felt compelled to do something. After going through such an awful time ourselves my thoughts are very much with others in the same situation.

So why did you decide to do your latest photoshoot at the Quays?
It is a place I love, but it seemed particularly poignant and relevant because of the water and the Imperial War Museum. My dad, John Stanley Lawrence joined the Royal Navy aged 16 and served on various ships including the HMS Challenger and the HMS Glasgow as a Petty Officer during World War II. As a boy sailor he served around the Mediterranean, Malta and Middle East. On his 18th Birthday
(31/08/1945) he was photographed in Penang in the Persian Gulf as part of the welcoming committee, as a Japanese Admiral came aboard ship to sign the peace treaty.

He later went on to work in pensions which enabled him to spend more time at home with the family, however ships and the forces were always a big part of dad since he was very proud of his Navy roots. I was also very taken with the poppy installation at the Imperial War Museum for Remembrance day.
Although dad served during the Second World War it felt like there was a lovely symmetry about the use of a flower symbol for remembrance and the use of the Forget-Me-Nots for Alzheimer’s.

When did your dad become ill with Alzheimer’s?
Dad was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2011. This dreadful disease took him away from the kind caring man he was and left him in an anxious state most of the time which took him and our family on a rollercoaster journey. The early stages saw him a recluse, depressed and living in and out of reality. In the later stages he faced anger, aggression, paranoia and at times had an extremely tormented mind. My mum and I and family members cared for him at home as long as we could, but the year before he died, dad was eventually sectioned under the Mental Health Act and was in hospital for 6 months. It was heartbreaking.

How is the fundraising going?
Well, there’s still a long way to go, but it’s going well I think. Lots of people are helping me spread the word including lovely Dominika who is the model in the photos. Dominika is an avid yogi and also works at Salford Quays. In August I asked for her help to organise a seven day Yoga Challenge on Instagram. With three other amazing yogis she posted fantastic images of different poses each day (#forgetmenotyogawhere). People from all around the world joined in by posting not only their pictures, but their stories about dementia too. It was amazing to see, read and be a part of.

To find out more visit bakasana.co.uk

The post Forget-Me-Not: Heather Lawrence mixes fashion and fundraising to remember her dad who died from Alzheimer’s appeared first on Quays Life.