PHYLLIS Tuckwell is calling on all tradesmen and women to get involved and support their hospice care charity, as Trade Fortnight a new initiative is just around the corner.

Tradesmen and women can help by donating to the hospice the fee they would normally charge for a small job, such as changing the washer on a tap, or maybe they could purchase their materials from suppliers who are also supporting Phyllis Tuckwell during the fortnight, which runs from September 7 to 21.

All donations will go towards helping to fund the supportive and end of life care which Phyllis Tuckwell offers, free of charge, to those facing cancer, or another serious progressive illness.

The charity will publish on its website a list of all those tradesmen and women who are supporting the initiative, so that local businesses and residents can find out who is taking part.

Trades Fortnight overlaps Help the Hospices Week, which runs from September 14 to 19. During Help the Hospices Week, the Aldershot-based Timber and Builders’ Merchants Covers will donate £5 to local hospices, every time a customer spends £60 at their store, and Phyllis Tuckwell is calling on all local tradesmen and women to support this initiative by buying their materials from Merchants Covers during that week.

Phyllis Tuckwell supports more than 250 patients and relatives every day – in their own homes, in the community, at the hospice in Farnham and at The Beacon Centre in Guildford, through a mix of medical care, nursing, therapies, counselling, social work and practical support. However the hospice has to raise more than £15,000 a day to help their services running, as the NHS/Government funding which it receives only covers 20 per cent of its costs.

For more information or to get involved contact Phyllis Tuckwell on 01252 729400. And to have your details added to the charity’s list of local trades contact Paul on 01252 729446 or email [email protected].