The Saturdays raise £1000 for Marie Curie at Westfield London
Press release published
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Top UK girl group The Saturdays made a surprise visit to Westfield London on Saturday March 12 to collect for Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Great Daffodil Appeal . Una, Mollie, Frankie, Vanessa and Rochelle joined local Marie Curie Nurse, Debbie Ventham, to ask Saturday shoppers to make a donation for a daffodil pin, in the charity’s first ever collection at Westfield London. The girls, who recently returned from their UK Headlines tour and are going into the studio to record a new album next week, competed against each other to see who could raise the most amount of money. Rochelle from The Saturdays, said: “We’ve really enjoyed doing our bit and collecting for Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal at Westfield London. We’ve raised £1000 in just 40 minutes and made sure every Saturday shopper is walking around with their daffodil on. “We’ve supported Marie Curie Cancer Care ever since we heard one of their Nurses talk about the amazing work they do, caring for terminally ill people who want to be looked after at home. We just had to get involved in their Great Daffodil Appeal and what better place to do it than Westfield London.” Debbie Ventham, Local Marie Curie Nurse, said: “This is the first time we’ve had a collection at Westfield London and to top it off we’ve had The Saturdays helping us to make it a success. Everything raised today will help Marie Curie Nurses like me provide more free care to people in their own homes and the charity’s hospices. “I want to thank Westfield London for donating the space and allowing us to collect for the Great Daffodil Appeal and the Saturdays for giving up their time to give the appeal a big boost.” The Great Daffodil Appeal is the charity’s flagship fundraiser which takes place in March and aims to raise over £5.5million. Throughout the month everyone across the UK is encouraged to give a donation in return for a Marie Curie daffodil pin. All money raised enables Marie Curie Nurses to provide more free care to people in their own homes. The Saturdays will be backing the charity through a range of events and campaigns throughout 2011, so watch this space for more news. -ENDS- |
Contact information
Yellowdoor, Westfield London
- 020 7580 0707
- rowanne@yellow-door.com
Updated
Notes to editor
Marie Curie Cancer Care is one of the UK’s largest charities. Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, it provided care to more than 31,000 terminally ill patients in the community and in its nine hospices last year and is the largest provider of hospice beds outside the NHS.
The Great Daffodil Appeal is the Marie Curie Cancer Care’s flagship fundraiser and aims to raise £5.5million. Everyone across the UK is encouraged to give a donation in return for a Marie Curie daffodil pin. All money raised enables Marie Curie Nurses to provide more free care to people with a terminal illness in their own homes and the charity’s hospices. To make a £3.00 donation to the Great Daffodil Appeal please text DAFF to 70777 now.*
(*Each text costs £3.00 plus your standard network message rate. At least 73% from each donation will go to Marie Curie Cancer Care, depending on the network; some networks pay 100%. By texting, you agree that we may use your number to call and send SMS about our work and fundraising activities. For full terms and conditions, visit http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/mobileterms)
Marie Curie has launched a virtual collection tin app for anyone who wants to fundraise for the appeal. The app gives people a quick and simple way to send text messages to their contacts, asking them to donate to Marie Curie. People can choose to donate either £2 or £5 in reply to the text message and are charged via their mobile phone bill, removing the need for any bank details to be provided. The app can be downloaded from relevant app stores, or by texting DAFF to 82727.**
(** Text donations for £2 or £5 can be made by texting 2 or 5 to 70800. The donation amount, plus one standard rate SMS will be charged to the mobile phone bill. A minimum of £1.52 or £4.39 goes to Marie Curie.)
Funding
Around 70 per cent of the charity’s income comes from the generous support of thousands of individuals, membership organisations and businesses, with the balance of our funds coming from the NHS.
Marie Curie Nurses
The charity is best known for its network of Marie Curie Nurses working in the community to provide end-of-life care, totally free for patients in their own homes.
Research
The charity has two centres for palliative care research, the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Unit at University College London and the Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute Liverpool. It also supports palliative and end of life care research through its project grant funding streams, the Marie Curie Cancer Care Research Programme (administered by Cancer Research UK) and the Dimbleby Marie Curie Cancer Care Research Fund.
Supporting the choice to die at home
Research shows around 65 per cent of people would like to die at home if they had a terminal illness, with a sizeable minority opting for hospice care. However, more than 50 per cent of cancer deaths still occur in hospital, the place people say they would least like to be. Since 2004 Marie Curie Cancer Care has been campaigning for more patients to be able to make the choice to be cared for and die at home.