Over the last 40 years St Margarets volunteers have been seen working hard at bucket collections in your local shops, supermarkets and streets across the county. Unfortunately, this year, due to Coronavirus our buckets have remained empty!

Despite this our care and support for patients and families across Somerset has not wavered. The work of our clinical teams remains ongoing; our staff are visiting patients in your community, supporting families and caring 24/7 in our in-patient unit. Our 24-hour adviceline has increasingly become a lifeline to our patients and families as face to face contact has not been possible.

Last year from bucket collections alone, your kindness and generosity raised over £8,000. So many of you support the hospice by donating your change whilst out and about. It is such an important part of our fundraising efforts and is being sorely missed this year. This is why we have created the Virtual Bucket Collection; perhaps you could donate the cost of a cup of coffee, or could you donate some of the money youve saved on lunch while working from home.

As its our 40th year, we are hoping to raise £4,000, which will start to bridge the gap from not being able to hold bucket collections. Whether its £2 or £20 your donation will help us continue to care for and support patients and their families across Somerset.