It's a blue day celebration. Thanks to everyone who supported our Blue Day Appeal to raise money for St Wilfrid's Hospice At Home scheme, we've reached our target of £5,000.
That means there is £5,000 more to spend on important services which will help care for people in their own homes.
The response over the past eight weeks has been outstanding and everyone who took part has made a significant contribution to
one
of the most important charities in the Chichester area.
In fact, the support has been so good that the £5,000 target has been blown out of the water.
The cheque from Chichester High School for Boys for £874 took the total to our target figure – and then even more money poured in.
As part of the Boys' School event, students listened to a presentation about St Wilfrid's Hospice as well as wearing blue and donating £1 each.
Pendean Residential Home held its blue day last week and raised an amazing £460.
Jackie Travers said: "We had a lovely day as we held a lunch for St Wilfrid's Hospice.
"We raised £230 on the day which will be matched by BUPA Community Connections, making a grand total of £460 – not bad for a lunch!"
More money is still expected from other organisations which have pledged to hold blue days, which should send the total spiralling close to £7,000.
Lavant House Surgery held its own blue day and collected more than £100.
Simon Taylor, the head of communications and fundraising at St Wilfrid's, said: "I am delighted the appeal has reached its target – and so quickly.
"It has been lovely to read each week of the support for the hospice from schools and organisations and the community at large.
"The appeal has helped raise greatly the awareness of the Hospice at Home scheme, and we are grateful for that.
"The scheme is a major commitment and will cost about £300,000 a year to fund, and we are busy working with our trust, donors and supporters to raise that kind of money.
"The money raised by Observer readers will help the hospice greatly – we are very grateful for their efforts."
Observer editor Colin Channon said: "We set a target of £5,000 and we were hoping to get a good response, but what has happened has far exceeded our expectations.
"This money will go to a very special scheme indeed.
"Whenever we ask our readers for help, they always go that extra mile. We held a march for St Richard's Hospital and asked for a show of support, and about 15,000 people showed up.
"We held a make and bake appeal a year ago for Dreams Come True, and instead of raising £5,000, which we asked, readers collected almost double that.
"And when reporter Clare Hawkin went on a charity trek to Everest, and wrote about her adventures daily in the Observer and on our website, it was hoped the adventure would raise £10,000 or so. In the end it made £55,000.
"The generosity of Observer readers never fails to amaze us all."
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