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Date: 4 December 2025

Author: Caroline Grey

MSP Capital held its, now well known, Volleyball Championships back in September. This involved 20 teams from local businesses taking part in a series of knock-out games on Bournemouth seafront. The purpose of the championships was to raise much needed funds for two well-deserving local charities – Julia’s House Children’s Hospice and Lewis-Manning Hospice Care. In total the day raised £15,000 for these charities which was a great result.

This week, representatives from both charities came to our offices to collect the cheques. Caroline Attwood from Julia’s House and Nicki Cluley from Lewis-Manning joined our Community Committee for the presentation of the cheques. During their visit they shared just how important the £15,000 raised at the Volleyball Championships was to their causes.

Both charities agreed that this money is vital to allow them to continue to provide care for those who need it most, with Nicky Cluley, Director of Marketing, Fundraising and Communications from Lewis-Manning confirming that ‘It makes a huge difference to us as it is a really significant amount of money, we can’t run our services without kind donations, so we are hugely grateful for MSP Capital’s ongoing support’.

Caroline Attreed, Corporate Fundraiser for Julia’s House added ‘You are helping our amazing team give children and young people the best quality of life – fun, friendship, laughter, treats, activities, as well as downtime, that helps them to get the most out of life and discover and enjoy the world around them.  Childhood is precious and fleeting, especially for those in hospice care.  Every moment matters, every memory is treasured making it so important we help the children we look after just enjoy being children’.

Lewis-Manning Hospice Care is a charity dedicated to helping people with life limiting illnesses & their families across East Dorset. Every year they provide extraordinary care for hundreds of patients and their families through services such as:

Palliative Care Services

Lymphoedema Clinic

Breathlessness Service

Creative Arts & Wellbeing

Counselling

Complementary Therapy

Julia’s House is a local children’s hospice. They provide practical and emotional support for families caring for a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition, providing frequent and regular support in their own homes, in the community or at their hospices.

Donations such as this are vital for both charities who remain largely funded by the public and have seen costs rise by 25% in the last two years. It enables the charities to continue to offer the absolute best possible care to the most vulnerable local people and their families. Nicki stated ‘We only receive 12% funding from the NHS so much of what we do is through fundraising particularly through our partnerships with local businesses’. She added ‘Last year we saw over 1200 patients, we would like to see even more – this money will help us to do just that’.

Caroline expanded on what the £7,500 could be used for:

£2,000 could help towards a fun session at the hospice for a group of seriously ill children, providing them with fun, friendship and play with some of the specialist equipment such as eye-gaze machines or in the sensory room.

£2,000 could help towards four care sessions for a seriously ill child in the comfort of their own home, bringing them joy and giving their exhausted parents a much-needed break.

£3,500 could help towards 35 sessions with a sibling worker, supporting a child’s brother or sister with dedicated time that’s just for them – to relax and have fun.

Both charities rely on the support of local businesses. Caroline said ‘Businesses support us in a variety of ways, such as volunteering days, arranging their own events, donating monthly as part of our business club and attending our events, helping to promote events, as well as organising their own events.   MSP Capital are an amazing supporter, helping through different initiatives which is incredible and without local support and donations, we just wouldn’t exist’. She added ‘It’s also great to see that a lot of people who support us via their company or business, go on to support Julia’s House as individuals with donations, taking part in our events or volunteering for us which is amazing’.

Commenting on the support Lewis-Manning receive from local businesses, Nicki stated ‘Our local business community is hugely supportive, so many businesses that we come in to contact with have experienced our services, sometimes first-hand, sometimes through a friend, relative or loved one so it makes the donations and support very personal. Businesses within our community are helping to provide care for their own community when they most need it. We are very lucky to have such support’.

Head of Marketing and People at MSP Capital, Rachel Bartlett, who organised the Volleyball Championships said ‘We are so pleased with the support that our Volleyball Championships can offer these two charities. We’ve supported them every year with the championships and that will continue. We’re already planning next year’s event, which will be our fifth year. Thank you to Caroline and Nicky for coming into the offices to talk more with the committee about how this money can support the important services they offer. Thank you to the companies that took part in 2025, and enabled so much money to be raised’.

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