Thousands raised at Pilgrims Hospices Christmas Fair
Hundreds attended the Pilgrims Hospices annual Christmas Fair on Saturday 22 November 2025 held at PGL Beyond, Grosvenor Hall, Ashford, where over £14,500 was raised.
Visitors enjoyed delicious refreshments, festive music, and games galore. There was lots to keep children entertained in the craft corner, including decorating a gingerbread shape and painting a plate. Father Christmas and his elves managed to find the time to join us and handed out presents to lots of excited children.
Many local companies and organisations showed their support and donated towards the weekend. With special thanks to PGL Beyond, Kingswood, Grosvenor Hall for the use of their wonderful venue, and our sponsor, Ultima Care.
Community Fundraising Manager, Louise Newman, said:
“A huge thank you from the Pilgrims Fundraising team. We really couldn’t make these amazing events happen without your help. We are grateful to everyone who donated items or joined us on the day; it was a fantastic day and an amazing amount was raised. With the support of over 90 volunteers, we have been able to raise vital funds for Pilgrims!”
Our next Ashford event is our Christmas Tree Recycling campaign, which is a great opportunity to get your real Christmas tree collected by our teams of Pilgrims volunteers. Find out more atpilgrimshospices.org/treerecycling.
Each year, Pilgrims Hospices care for thousands of people across east Kent, with services provided from its three hospice sites in Ashford, Canterbury, and Thanet, as well as in patients’ own homes. It costs over £17.2 million annually to run these services, much of which comes from the generous support of the local community.
This year, the much-loved local charity is celebrating its 40th birthday, with a guaranteed prize fund of £4,040 including a first prize of £2,040. All prizes will be sent out to the lucky winners in time for Christmas! They are asking the local community buy a ticket or two to help with continued support for Pilgrims’ end-of-life patients across east Kent.
Shiralee Riddell, Pilgrims Lottery Manager told us: “We recently posted tickets to our Pilgrims Lottery members and supporters, the response so far has been very encouraging.
“We care for people with illnesses that cannot be cured, our services are provided free of charge for our three sites in Canterbury, Ashford and Thanet, within our Therapy Centres and in patients’ own homes; our care is also extended to families and carers .”
£25 will pay for an hours’ specialist nursing care in one of our in-patient units.
£15 goes towards mini toiletries for a patient who needs them.
£12 gives a patient staying in one of our hospices a delicious meal on Christmas day.
If you are not on Pilgrims’ regular mailing list and would like some tickets, please:
Shiralee added: “Please do take part; your generous support is greatly appreciated by our patients and their loved ones, and it makes an incredible difference at the most difficult of times. Thank you.”
Please support your local hospice by calling Shiralee for your tickets. In order to make sure tickets are included, counterfoils must be returned by 8 December, the Christmas Draw takes place on 15 December 2022. Over 16s only, full T&Cs are on our website:
Pilgrims Hospices is dedicated to proving skilled and compassionate care, free of charge, to people living with an incurable illness in east Kent. Pilgrims vision is that people with a life-limiting illness are supported and empowered to live well in mind and body, making the most of the time have. They care for thousands of patients and their families each year, at their three inpatients units in Canterbury, Thanet and Ashford, their Therapy Centres or in patients’ homes.
