October 2024 - East Cheshire Hospice

Luke Oldham is just as happy performing his main role as corporate fundraiser for East Cheshire Hospice

Posted on 9th October 202420th September 2024 by Becky Sidwell

Off stage actor Luke Oldham is just as happy performing his main role as corporate fundraiser for East Cheshire Hospice.

Luke is hard at work rehearsing for his part in Constellations, a romantic play at MADS Theatre from October 17-19.

The theatre world occupies his time away from his desk at the Hospice where he puts corporate supporters centre stage.

Luke Oldham (left) with MADS chair Amy Leech and John Chandler.

Luke said: “I’ve got the best of both worlds. I love developing relationships with corporate sponsors for the Hopspice and my theatre involvement.

“A lot of exciting things are happening on the corporate side at the Hospice and we enjoy fantastic support from the business community.

“The theatre work has been incredibly full on as well. I’m rehearsing something pretty much every available evening.”

Luke stars alongside actress Gemma Wilson as the only two actors in Constellations.

He said: “It’s a love story. Certain scenes throughout their relationship play out in different ways exploring the consequences we don’t always see from our choices.

“It’s a sweet heartbreaking piece, funny in places.”

On behalf of Northern Rep Theatre, Luke is co-directing a trilogy Not Being Mean performed by Poynton Players in December.

Wearing his Hospice hat, he received a cheque for £831 from MADS – of which he is a member – as proceeds from a performance by an Australian touring theatre company in July.

Nuworks performed The Shoemaker of Havana, based on the life of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The group made their second visit to Macclesfield in a year. MADS management member John Chandler said: “The audience loved the show, it was a pleasure to have them back.

“They’re due to return in 2026 and we’ll welcome them with open arms. They pay their own fares and touring with cars and hotels is expensive which is why they’re having a year off.”

Meanwhile, Luke was heavily involved in attracting corporate support for Art Fair Cheshire which has just ended.

Other priorities include Will Month in October and the ongoing 500 Club in which organisations raise a minimum of £500 a year for the Hospice.

Mowgli Street Foods, in Knutsford, have become a corporate partner, making the Hospice its charity of the year.

Luke said: “We have a base of enthusiastic supporters and without our corporate help we would not be here.”

* For corporate Hospice inquiries contact Luke on luke.oldham@echospice.org.uk

Take on Trek Snowden at night in 2025

Posted on 9th October 202420th September 2024 by Becky Sidwell

Many have climbed Mount Snowdon, but few have scaled the famous Welsh peak overnight.

But that is the incentive for East Cheshire Hospice supporters who sign up to the Hospice’s latest challenge.

The nine-mile trek takes place over the weekend of August 2/3 next year.

An overnight Snowdon trek is the challenge facing East Cheshire Hospice supporters.

The reward for walkers as they reach the summit is a breathtaking view of the sun rising across Snowdonia National Park and the changing colours of the peaks as dawn breaks.

Experienced mountain guide leaders will assist trekkers every step of the way with safety the No 1 priority on a walk described as ‘challenging’ by organisers.

Places can be booked by visiting www.eastcheshirehospice.org.uk/events/trek-2025/

Registration is £45 and a minimum of £330 must be raised in sponsorship.

Participants will get a hot buffet at a hotel in Llanberis before a 1 am registration and briefing.

The ascent using the Llanberis Path starts at 2 am and takes between three and four hours.

Snowdon at sunrise.

Walkers will watch the sunset either at the summit, or on the ascent, depending on their speed. Snacks are supplied along the route before a well-earned breakfast on completion.

Head torches will be supplied with the same trail used for a descent expected to take two to three hours.

A welcome pack offers tips on training and trekking.

A vehicle will provide back up and support and each walker receives a souvenir medal.

Excluded is travel insurance, alcoholic drinks and personal trekking equipment such as boots, poles etc.

Juliette White CBE has swapped one medical world for another

Posted on 2nd October 202420th September 2024 by Becky Sidwell

Juliette White CBE has swapped one medical world for another after agreeing to become the next Chair of East Cheshire Hospice.

Her appointment comes four months after she retired from a senior role with AstraZeneca where she spent 34 years.

Juliette is acting as Chair Elect of the charity for 12 months before officially taking over from Will Spinks in September 2025. He steps down after reaching the nine-year limit as a Trustee.

Juliette, from Macclesfield, played an important role in securing the supply of medicines during the pandemic and preparations for leaving the EU.

She was awarded the CBE in 2021 for services to ‘life sciences and the medical supply chain.’

Juliette White CBE, the next Chair of East Cheshire Hospice.

Juliette said: “I’m extremely excited to be joining East Cheshire Hospice which has an incredibly strong reputation.

“There are huge parallels to AZ where I’ve spent my working life. The Hospice is a purpose driven organisation that puts patients and their families at the heart of every decision.

“You can’t spend 34 years of your life working for patient outcomes and then suddenly stop the desire to do the right thing for the most vulnerable in society.

“AZ is a long-standing corporate partner of the Hospice.

“Everything the Hospice does is consistent with what it writes down on paper that it stands for. It lives its values and purpose as an organisation.

“It accelerated the move to Hospice @Home care and has been at the forefront of wanting to innovate and evolve how it provides support to patients and families as society has shifted and changed.”

Juliette and husband Howard have three children, Callum, a veterinary surgeon, Hamish, an engineer, and Holly, a medical student at Leeds University.

Their mum’s career was spent mostly at AZ’s Macclesfield site, apart from a period in the USA.

After starting in HR, she worked mainly in the supply chain, sourcing medicines to patients and managed external commercial supply.

Latterly, she was head of sustainability, focusing on AZ’s net zero strategy.

Juliette said: “I still genuinely believe in AZ’s mission and purpose, though I also recognise that 34 years is a long time and while I’m still relatively young, fit and healthy it’s time to do other things.

“More autonomy means I can get involved with fantastic organisations like the Hospice. It’s a life choice and my No 1 priority is my family and to have more time to be present in their lives as well.”

Juliette was the company’s UK lead during the pandemic

Posted on 2nd October 202420th September 2024 by Becky Sidwell

Juliette White CBE describes AstraZeneca’s swift and effective response to Covid as one of the proudest moments of her career.

Juliette was the company’s UK lead during the pandemic.

She said: “We had to keep staff safe as we had people working in labs and factories all the way through, as well as remotely.

“We also had to adapt our safety measures as the virus and science evolved.

Will Spinks who will step down after nine years as a Trustee at East Cheshire Hospice.

“Our priority was protecting employees and patients because we had vulnerable patients with cancer and other illnesses who still needed their supply of drugs.

“We also had to source the supply of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

“It was the proudest I’ve been of anything that we ever did as a collective and as a company.

“The fact we launched the vaccine at no profit through that pandemic phase was also incredible.

“We reached the most vulnerable in society and began to vaccinate them after diagnostic tests and treatments had stopped.”

Juliette’s final role at AZ as head of sustainability also gave her great satisfaction.

She said: “We put values and impact on society at the heart of all our decisions around sustainability.

“We took bold moves and, importantly, encouraged others to up their game.

“As a big household name, you have a responsibility as a company not only to do the right thing and be ambitious for your own goals, but to help raise the games of others and get them to do more than they might have done otherwise.”