'Nourishing' Hospiscare with charity round up
An ongoing fundraising initiative by Nourish Zero Waste has accumulated £1,600 for Hospiscare after customers were encouraged to donate just a few pence in each transaction.
The money will fund 16 visits to a patient in their own home by one of the charity’s clinical nurse specialists enabling patients to stay at home with their loved ones.
Zero waste provisions business Nourish which has shops in Topsham and Magdalen Road has been running a voluntary charity ‘round up’ since opening in March 2018.
Owner Sarah Martin explained: “It’s a simple idea giving customers the option to round up their totals to the nearest zero with a few extra pence. Nourish then matches that amount.
“For example, if the bill is £3.85 a customer can round it up to £3.90 - and we also put 5 pence into the pot.”
The initiative initially attracted around £50 of donations each month, but after the second Nourish shop opened in April 2019, this increased - meaning £1,600 was raised in under two years of the round up being introduced.
“My customers have been incredibly supportive of the idea and I’ve rarely had anyone say no – some have even put a little extra change in too,” Sarah added.
William Thomas, Chairman of Topsham Friends of Hospiscare, a dedicated fundraising group that organises events and collections throughout the year, said: “A big thank you to Sarah and her lovely customers for their amazing support.
“Locally in Topsham we’ve raised the amazing figure of £26,229 for Hospiscare so far this year, and this is very much down to support from the community.”
Hospiscare provides expert support, resources and personalised specialist care for people in Exeter, Mid and East Devon who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Community Fundraiser Susie Healey was bowled over with the amount raised by Nourish. She said:
“We are so grateful to Sarah and her customers for their fantastic support for our patients and helping to raise awareness of the services provided by our local hospice.
