I have been a patron to The Kirsty Club for many years raising vital funds in order for the hospice to stay open.

The Kirsty Club aims to build a brighter future for Francis House Children’s Hospice in Manchester. The campaign is fronted by Kirsty Howard—a truly inspirational girl who battles her own illness on a daily basis. Francis House is a loving home where the corridors are filled with laughter, and the rooms flooded with light. Diana, Princess of Wales, opened the Hospice in 1991.

The first campaign—Kirsty’s Appeal—aimed to raise £5 million to underpin Francis House, and secure the long-term continuation of its’ care programme for terminally ill children and support for parents. At that time the annual running cost was £1.7m and the only financial help was £27,500 per year made up from five Health Authority’s. The enormous task of raising the remaining funds every year had become a huge burden. Salaries alone to guarantee experienced nurses and care team cost £800,000 per year. Our main concerns are always that we are unable to pay staff unsociable hours. There have been three bids to the National Lottery—all without success.

Kirsty and the Appeal team achieved their goal of raising £5 million at The Angel Ball on Saturday, 28th October 2006. The interest raised on this amount will help many other very poorly children in the future, but until financial contributions from the Government become worthy of this wonderful service provided we must continue, as Francis House needs to grow. Hence—The Kirsty Club.

For more information please visit http://thekirstyclub.com