Salisbury Hospice receives charity donation from the Dust Hole pub

The pub (also known as The Railway Inn) has been run by Tony and Carol Harding for 17 years and although the pandemic and recent cost of living made life difficult, they still wanted to raise money for charity.

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Carol said: “We put the hat around for cash and people dropped their change into a jar. We put on a casino night and people paid for their chips and that money went to charity. When we ran a quiz, winners donated their money to the charity.”

She added: “Two people even did personal challenges of their own and brought the money in for our collection. It’s the most we have ever raised.”

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Carol and Tony choose a different charity each year and this time, Salisbury Hospice benefitted. The charity provides patients with dignity and choice in their final days while offering support to families, carers and friends who have needs of their own at this time.

Carol and Tony presented Louise Compton, the corporate fundraiser from Salisbury Hospice, with a cheque for £2,000.

Louise said: “This makes a massive difference. The actual annual running costs of the hospice is 2.9 m each year, but we aim to raise £1.5 m. People often think that we are a 10-bed inpatient unit, but we have community palliative care nurses and our hospices at home nurses, and we have our family support teams.”

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“We cover a massive area as well. We go up to Pewsey, Upavon, Mere, Warminster, down to Ringwood, and to the New Forest. We have about 1000 patients a year, but it is their families too.

“We are an adult hospice, and it is from diagnosis so it is palliative care, but it can be symptom control. They are a specialist team and support the hospital, GPs, and care homes and are there to advise. We help with all terminal illnesses.

Louise explained that £2,000 pays for the equivalent of two pressure mattresses so is important, but the money raised helps out in a wide variety of places even buying the therapy dogs a treat.

Corporate fundraiser Louise Compton said: “On behalf of Salisbury Hospice, I would like to thank Carol and Tony, all staff and customers at The Dust Hole for their kind support of Salisbury Hospice Charity, support which ensures the hospice is there for those who need it within our community.”