Sailing club on Hayling Island raise more than £5,000 for Rowans Hospice

The team at Mengeham Rythe Sailing Club on Hayling Island usually holds a race for Rowans Hospice but due to the coronavirus outbreak, the event had to be cancelled.

But in the club’s 21st year of supporting the hospice in Purbrook, Commodore Joanna Lewis and race organiser Ann Kent did not want to let the year pass by without raising some much-needed funds and decided to hold a silent auction, with prizes including a champagne cruise, a glass sculpture and a bag made from old sails, and also asked people to donate a percentage of their bar bill.

Joanna said: ‘Being a sociable club, if MRSC and our friends can’t raise more than £1,000 by having a drink then who can? What we hadn’t anticipated was that we would burst through our target, raising a total of £3,163.75 for Rowans.’

The auction, which saw more than 300 bids placed, raised £2,119.37, bringing the grand total to £5,283.12.

For Ann, the charity holds her special place in her heart.

She said: ‘My eldest daughter was a keen sailor and active sailing club member before she became ill in 1999 and was finally cared for at the Rowans Hospice.

‘Others at our sailing club and in the local community have also benefitted from the wonderful end of life care given by Rowans, so we are so pleased to be able to support their work, especially during this time when all charities are finding it harder to raise much-needed funds.

‘It’s thanks to the generosity of MRSC club members and our friends over the past 21 years that we have now raised a total of £23,283 to support their vital and wonderful work. We hope this link will continue for many more years to come.’

For more information about the sailing club visit mengeham.org.uk

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