Elmer the elephant and Woolly the sheep will be helping to raise vital funds and awareness at an event in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice at an Ipswich shopping centre this weekend.
The One Great Day at Sailmakers this Saturday will focus on fundraising for the hospice’s new Zest initiative, which will help teenagers and young adults living with terminal illnesses to enjoy the same opportunities as their peers.
It comes after the hospice found that patients aged 14-25, who are transitioning from child to adult care, are not currently being met.
The Zest initiative will focus on raising funds to provide services and facilities tailored to this age group.
All funds raised at Sailmakers’ One Great Day event will be donated to the cause.
Jemma Wood, hospice volunteer partnerships team leader, said the money would help them to provide the type of care that their young patients, usually around 20-30 in total, desperately need and deserve.
“Although they’re not young children anymore, they’re not quite old enough to be cared for as an adult,” she said. “At the hospice we care for people over the age of 14 but a lot of the facilities have been created with adults in mind.
“We do currently have a dedicated night for young adults once a month and put on events for them, but their needs have outgrown the hospice.
“For instance, we want to offer them the opportunity for sleepovers like any other young adult their age is able to have. They may not be able to go to a friend’s house because they need special equipment or a carer with them.
“It could be that we have an 18-year-old who wants to go out to pubs and clubs with their friends but needs a carer.”
Mike Sorhaindo, manager of Sailmakers, said: “St Elizabeth Hospice is a popular charity which does so much good work locally so we’re very pleased to be able to help them on our own special charity day.
“Zest is a brilliant initiative by them because it fills a real hole in provision for young people with life-limiting conditions and their families and helps them enjoy the kinds of activities all young people want to do.”
Sailmakers if one of 140 shopping centres across the UK taking part in the One Great Day for Great Ormond Street Hospital and local good causes.
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