MORE than £10,000 has been donated to the Lancashire Telegraph Raise the Roof appeal in just three weeks.

The campaign is to raise £125,000 to build a new roof over East Lancashire Hospice’s inpatient unit.

Sharon Crymble, fundraising manager at the charity, confirmed that as of yesterday the total stood at £10,846.

She said: “We've done it thanks to the Lancashire Telegraph's readers and the hospice's supporters. They have been incredibly generous in such a short space of time.

“But we still need a lot more: £114,154 to be precise.

“We would really like people to organise events in their own neighbourhood.

“When the people of East Lancashire raised the money for the original hospice building, the founder Dr Seigleman said different groups competed to see who could raise the most.

“It would be great to see all that competitive spirit again to help us reach this goal.”

It is important that any money used to buy the new roof does not come from funds allocated to patient care.

The hospice, in Park Lee Road, Blackburn, already needs to raise approximately £2.8 million each year to continue supporting people in Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley who have terminal and life-threatening diseases.

Chris Devlin, of Oswaldtwistle construction firm J&C Devlin Ltd, will be the man tasked with replacing the roof if the £125,000 is raised.

He said: “We've found quite a few problems.

“There have been multiple places that have needed damp works to patch them up and the roof has just about reached its shelf-life.

“The tiles are very brittle, there is a lot of vegetation and moss grown on them.

“Thieves stealing lead flashing disturbed sections of the roof covering. They had ill patients in there underneath them and they were literally pulling lead off the roof.

“There are issues around the conservatory as well. You can see gaps where water would get in and if you look at the valleys on the roof a lot of pointing is falling out.

“If that gets into gutters it's creating dams, holding back leaves etc, and that has a knock-on effect, causing flooding.”

How to donate

  • By text - Send ROOF to 70700. Texts cost £5 plus network charge. East Lancashire Hospice receives at least £4.45. Obtain bill payers permission. Customer care 08448479800.

    Charity No 1075653.

  • Online - At eastlancshospice.org.uk/roof-appeal. Remember to add the word ‘roof’ in the comments section so it is clear the donation is for this appeal.
  • At a bank - Make a payment at any Yorkshire Bank, Account No 22741541, Sort Code 05-02-52. Locally there are branches in Accrington, Barnoldswick, Blackburn, Burnley, Chorley, Clitheroe, Colne, Nelson and Todmorden.
  • By post - Send a cheque to Roof Appeal, East Lancashire Hospice, Park Lee Road, Blackburn, BB2 3NY.
  • By phone - Pay by debit or credit card by ringing 01254 733410.

If surplus funds are raised they will be used for the general purposes of the charity.

Click on the link below for more information on the Raise The Roof campaign.