Biggleswade customers at The Rose pub help to raise £1,500 for Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice

Publicans Eamonn Watson and Sarah Mulchrone ran an online raffle and an enticing voucher scheme to rally the community into action for their local hospice.

In April, the charity launched an emergency appeal to save its end-of-life services, which were under threat due to the impact of the pandemic.

Sarah said: “Budweiser brand (Inbev) are running a scheme, where customers can buy vouchers for when the pub re-opens, and they match the amount to help the pubs survive meanwhile.

“We told our customers that if they bought the vouchers we would donate the extra to St John’s. The voucher scheme is capped at £1,000, which we reached quickly.

“I’m really proud of our customers for taking part and happy to donate our matching money to the hospice, who have struggled to raise funds in their usual ways recently.”

The hospice also holds a special meaning for The Rose team, because Eamonn’s sister-in-law, Helen Watson, passed away at St John’s Hospice, aged 60, in July 2015.

Eamonn said: “When I went there to see Helen I thought the place was amazing. Visiting [a hospice] is never easy, but they made it easy.

“Helen had cancer and went there two weeks before she passed away. She was in high spirits even though she knew what was happening.

“That place kept her spirit going. The volunteers and staff are wonderful and we’ve always tried to raise money for them by having a charity box at our bar.”

The High Street pub’s online raffle raised £500 and readers can keep an eye out for more fund-raising events. The pub currently plans to reopen around the end of July. Facebook: ‘The Rose Pub Biggleswade’.