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Macclesfield Hospital staff making tree-mendous effort to raise money for dementia garden

23 September 2024

Picture1.jpgA group of staff from Macclesfield District General Hospital will be taking to the streets of Macclesfield dressed as trees next month, to raise funds to help renovate a much-needed garden space for dementia patients at the hospital, through East Cheshire NHS Charity.

Staff from East Cheshire NHS Trust’s Finance department will be wearing nature themed fancy dress as they take on the 10k at this year’s Macclesfield Running Festival.

The costumes will also display over 100 ‘forget me not flowers’ which have been knitted by friends and family and represent remembrance and is long associated with dementia.

Senior Finance Manager for East Cheshire NHS Trust, Bek Jolley, will be one of the team of six taking part, and said: “As we are running to raise money for the dementia garden on Ward 9, we thought garden themed fancy dress would be appropriate and so we are dressing as trees.

“Funds raised will help with the development of the dementia friendly garden which will provide a therapeutic space and safe social environment for patients.”

Over £3000 was raised by runners for East Cheshire NHS Charity at last year’s event which offers distances of 5k, 10k and a half marathon.

Lily Preston, Fundraising and Events Manager for East Cheshire NHS Charity, added: “We are so grateful for the efforts of staff taking part and supporting such a fantastic cause.

“Good luck to all of our runners, there is still time to sign up, grab your free place, achieve a personal best and support your local NHS.”

The charity are the official partners of the event for the second year running as runners pass through the historic sights of Macclesfield into the scenic countryside of East Cheshire, before reaching the finishing line at Macclesfield Leisure Centre.

To register a FREE place at this year’s event and to find out more information visit https://eastcheshirenhscharity.org/events/ or email ecn-tr.ecnhscharity@nhs.net.

Image captions:

Image 1: Staff from the Trust’s Finance team

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Notes for editors

  • For further information about East Cheshire NHS Trust, contact the Trust press office on 01625 663935.
  • East Cheshire NHS Trust is the main provider of acute and community health services for people across East Cheshire. The Trust is based at Macclesfield District General Hospital, and also manages Congleton War Memorial Hospital and Knutsford and District Community Hospital.
  • Follow East Cheshire NHS Trust on Twitter for all the latest news: @EastCheshireNHS
  • East Cheshire NHS Charity goes above and beyond standard Government funding to make your local NHS that extra special. From supporting staff health and wellbeing to providing toys to brighten up our young patients’ days to making long stay patients feel more at home – our mission is to make a visible difference. You can make a donation to the charity on JustGiving here