St Barnabas Hospice has received a £10,000 charitable donation from Lea Fields Crematorium in West Lindsey.
The money will be used by the charity to support Lincolnshire residents with Life limiting and terminal illness.
Lea Fields, which is run by West Lindsey District Council, opened the much needed facility in January 2020. The authority signed up to the ICCM (Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management) Metal Recycling Scheme, which means that with the consent from families, metals recovered during cremation are recycled and any money raised is used to give back to bereavement related charities.
Chairman of the Council, Cllr Steve England selected St Barnabas to receive the donation as part of the scheme.
He said: “St Barnabas Hospice does such incredible work in Lincolnshire supporting people with life limiting and terminal illness. They do a fantastic job by making such a positive difference to the lives of poorly people in such tough circumstances.
“It is an honour to be able to provide them with some extra financial help especially in the current conditions when fund raising for many organisations due to COVID-19 has made things challenging.
“We must not forget special thanks to the bereaved who gave their consent to be part of the scheme for without them we would not have been able to give back to the local community in this way.”
Nationally the ICCM recycling Metal Scheme has raised over £7 million for charities since it was created.
Deborah Balsdon, Crematorium Manager at Lea Fields Crematorium said joining the national scheme was a great way to support local good causes.
She said: “At Lea Fields we always ensure families give their full approval to be part of the process and while making funeral arrangements they are given the choice about whether they wish to authorise the sensitive recycling of any metals remaining after the cremation.”
Caroline Swindin, Fundraising Development Manager at St Barnabas, said: “We are over the moon to receive a £10,000 donation from Lea Fields Crematorium and think that the ICCM Metal Recycling Scheme is a fantastic way to raise money for charity. This past year has thrown up many challenges for St Barnabas Hospice, so the money from Lea Fields will go a long way towards helping us provide holistic care to an increased number of patients, looking after their physical, social, spiritual and psychological needs.
“To put this fantastic amount of money into perspective, £10,000 could fund 585 virtual bereavement support sessions for people grieving the loss of a loved one, or it could fund 711 Hospice at Home visits to people being cared for at home by our community teams. It could even cover the cost of 293 hours of specialist inpatient care for patients we look after round-the-clock in our Inpatient Unit.
“Thank you so much to everyone involved in raising this incredible amount of money – it really does mean so much to us.”
Senior Director of Cliff Bradley and Sons Funeral Directors, Carlton Bradley, added: “I hope that this incredible donation – which wouldn’t be possible without the support of so many selfless, generous, wonderful people – will make a huge difference to those who are living with terminal illnesses in Lincolnshire during this most difficult of times.
“For anyone who has lost a loved one, to have the incredible ability to still think of helping others shows a selfless quality that is simply the best in humanity. I truly wish the best to everybody who has made this possible, and to everybody who this incredible act of humanity will touch.”