Garden party success (From Penarth Times)

Garden party success

THE annual fundraising Garden Party took place at the Marie Curie Hospice Penarth on Saturday, August 6.

And the event, held in the hospice grounds and the adjacent Windsor Gardens, proved a big success as usual with hundreds of visitors calling in to take part in the fun, pick up a bargain on the stalls, and learn more about volunteering opportunities and the free services provided to terminally ill patients and their families across South Wales.

The party was opened by hospice Patron Lorraine Barrett, the Cardiff and Penarth Assembly Member who was herself a nurse at the then Holme Tower hospice back in the 1970s.

There was face-painting for the youngsters, fortunes from Mystic Morgan, the chance to name the Marie Curie Bear, while the raffle and Rotary Club bottle stall proved a hit as usual. And people could pick up flowers and plants from dedicated gardener and hospice maintenance worker Cliff Parker.

Community fundraising manager Rachal Minchinton said: "The service provided by the hospice is second to none - but it costs around 3million every year.

"The majority of this comes from public donations - that's why the garden party is so important.

"It helps us raise badly-needed funds to help the hospice continue care for local people with cancer and their families."