9 April 2020

The Heath family raise charity cheer in back garden

Richard and Joanne Heath from Herne Bay built a bar in their back garden, aptly named The Four Heath Clover. They started fundraising for Pilgrims Hospices along with friends and family who visited, in memory of Jo’s sister Julie Beal. The couple have raised £262 in the past 12 months and almost £700 since 2017 for the charity that is very close to their hearts.


Joanne’s sister Julie was cared for at Pilgrims Hospice Canterbury, after her long battle with cancer, she passed away in March 2010 aged 46 years.

We understand the importance of fundraising for this great cause.

Jo Heath

Jo said: “Having seen and experienced how well Julie was cared for in her final week with Pilgrims, we understand the importance of fundraising for this great cause. We have always been a family that love to take part in events to raise money for charity and have taken part in Pilgrims charity events and also play Pilgrims Lottery to support end of life care within our community.”

She added: “We built our home bar ‘The Four Heath Clover’ and held various fundraising days such as sports days, horse racing, ladies only and gents’ only nights. Everyone who attended always gave generously. Julie was a much loved sister, daughter, mum and auntie; she was always the life and soul of a family gathering.

“We do this in memory of Julie and to raise money to help Pilgrims Hospices to continue the wonderful work they do for the east Kent community.”

Leila Ilkhan, Pilgrims Community Fundraising Manager, said: “It was lovely to meet Richard and Jo and to thank them personally for their support in such an ingenious and creative way.

“They also generously have a Pilgrims collection pot on their bar for extra fundraising, we are extremely grateful to everyone who makes a contribution.

Thank you for supporting in such an ingenious and creative way.

Leila Ilkhan, Pilgrims Hospices

“I think this is a great bit of fundraising and I would love to share to hopefully inspire others to think about how they could fundraise for Pilgrims.”

Please note: This fundraising took place before the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you would like to fundraise for Pilgrims Hospices in the future, the fundraising team would love to hear from you.  Although much of our current fundraising activities are paused due to COVID-19, there are many ways you can still support the charity, including joining Pilgrims Lottery, giving a one-off donation or planning an event for later on this year. We hope, that in time, supporters will be filled with positive spirit and ready to think about how they can get involved when we can all join together again in creative ways such as The Four Heath Clover.

Thank you again. Your support is very much appreciated!


This year alone, Pilgrims Hospices has to raise £11 million through voluntary donations in order to run our full range of services. Sponsorship raised through events like these helps us to continue caring for local people at the end of their lives.