Tony Hatch and wife Jill have been volunteers at Saint Francis Hospice for 10 years. ‘It’s the best feeling in the world,’ Tony declared.

Pre-pandemic, Tony would drive outpatients to and from the Hospice ‘s social hub for people living with life-limiting illnesses. With Pemberton Place temporarily closed due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the ever-active Tony wanted to find a way to continue to help them.

Tony admitted that some good things have come out of the coronavirus. One of those is that it’s brought his neighbourhood in Hornchurch closer together. ‘It was once just a friendly “hello”, but now, we’re a lot more than that,’ he explained. 

When ten weeks of clapping for our carers came to an end, Tony, Jill, and their neighbours revealed that they started to miss the weekly social event. They exchanged telephone numbers, partied in the street for VE Day, and wondered what they could do next.

Their idea was to ask people for food and drink donations, and they ended up taking two vans’ worth of goods to Harold Hill Food Bank. The newly-formed neighbourhood group, named the ‘The HHAGs’, also raised £284 for our Hospice at the donation point through raffles and collection buckets.

‘We all know that the Hospice is suffering from a huge decline in funds from the coronavirus,’ Tony said. ‘This was our way of helping two great charities at once.’

Thank you to The HHAGs, and everyone who took part.

If you have a fundraising idea – no matter how small – then Saint Francis Hospice would love to hear from you at fundraising@sfh.org.uk