Suffolk, September 2021 – Award-winning developer Countryside has donated £32,000 to much loved local charity, St Nicholas Hospice Care. Having being supporting people across Bury St Edmunds and beyond since 1984, the charity now helps approximately 2,000 people and their families facing dying, caring and grief across the Bury St Edmunds area every year.
Countryside, the leading developer behind Marham Park, has donated the funds to the charity over a three year period, via the sponsorship of events, including its hugely successful annual fundraiser, Girls Night Out, along with Paws in the Park in 2020 and the Countryside Communities Fund
Around a third of the donations can be contributed to Countryside’s Communities Fund, a dedicated fund set up in 2020 to help communities respond to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through this fund, Countryside has donated £10,000 to the hospice over the last two years.
Combined with a recent donation of £6,000 towards a new ward kitchen, the funds have played a key role in enabling St Nicholas Hospice to continue its work in the community, as well as being pivotal in the refurnishment and delivery of its brand new kitchen, which is now underway. When complete, the new kitchen will enable hospice staff and volunteers to make food requested by those being cared for on its ward at anytime.
Martin Leach, Managing Director of Strategic Land at Countryside, comments:
“The support and work carried out by the staff and volunteers at St Nicholas Hospice Care to residents and their families during their darkest days is second to none. We understand what a valuable support and care system the hospice provides, giving many a sense of comfort at a difficult time. This series of donations is part of our unwavering commitment to support the wider community and we hope this will go some way to enabling the team to continue their fantastic work.”
Abby Mayes, the hospice’s Corporate Fundraising Manager, said:
“The generosity of businesses like Countryside means that we can keep supporting people and their families at the most difficult times of their lives.
“Countryside has supported us in many ways over the years, and we are so grateful. The pandemic has meant we have had to fundraise differently, so this kind of support is so important to us.
“Countryside’s latest donation to help fund a new kitchen for our ward will make a massive difference.
“It will mean our catering staff and volunteers will be able to provide snacks, meals and refreshments for those being cared for on our ward during the day, and our nursing staff will also be able to use it to support patients throughout the day and night as needed.
“The current kitchen, which has been in use for more than ten years, will cost more than £11,000 to replace, so Countryside’s donation will make a huge difference, not just now but for a long time into the future.”
Marham Park is Countryside’s major new village-style development on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds spanning 200 acres. A new community that will eventually provide around 1,000 new homes, supported by local amenities along with over 65 acres of parkland and open spaces, all of which are connected by a network of new footpaths and cycle ways.
To date over 525 new homes and Marham Care Home have been built and occupied, together with a variety of play areas and a new 35 acre country park, specifically designed to encourage biodiversity and provide new habitats and homes for wildlife to thrive. The new homes at Marham Park are making a significant contribution toward the growing housing demands in the local area and are available via a mix of tenure including 30% affordable.
