National acclaim for Halton Housing Trust and Halton Haven Hospice

A PARTNERSHIP between two organisations in Halton has won national acclaim.

Halton Housing Trust’s work with Halton Haven Hospice took a top honour at the Charity Times Awards at the London Hilton Hotel on October 12th.

They jointly scooped the Corporate Community Local Involvement Award in recognition of the way the two organisations work together for the benefit of people across Runcorn and Widnes.

Success in the Charity Times Awards was the second in a week for the Trust, who also won the Corporate Supporter Award presented by the Hospice at its 30th anniversary event on 7th October.

“We have taken our partnership with the Hospice very seriously over the past five years and worked hard to play our part in supporting the Hospice in making a difference to the lives of patients and their families,” said Nick Atkin, Chief Executive of Halton Housing Trust.

“The hospice has supported our customers as well as thousands of other people from across the area so it is a wonderful partnership that I hope will continue long into the future”.

The Hospice provides a ‘home-from-home’ environment and vital round-the-clock care for people with life-limiting illnesses.  This costs £2.1million a year and the charity relies on local donations to raise 60 per cent of its operating costs.

Halton Housing Trust, which owns and manages 6,100 homes across Runcorn and Widnes, asks employees to vote on which charity they would like to support each year and they have consistently chosen the hospice over the past five years.

The Trust has previously helped the hospice to successfully secure £346,000 in grant funding for the refurbishment of an in-patient wing and organised for their contractors to carry out discounted work whilst giving up their time for free.

In return, the Hospice helps to provide low-cost furniture from its charity shops to Trust customers.

“That is our way of putting something else back into the community,” said Paula Widdas, Fundraising Manager at the Hospice.

“Winning the Corporate Community Local Involvement Award really shows we are doing something right and we hope to continue to work together for the benefit of others”.

Their next project together will be to refurbish the last corridor in the Hospice that has not seen any major improvements in recent years.

“It is the corridor where the Macmillan nurses and other staff are based so it will make a real difference to their working environment”, said Paula.

“It will be better for them and that will also be of benefit to the patients so it is a great project for next year”.