Taylor Wimpey Manchester has donated £250 to St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire in Winsford, close to its Millstream Meadows development in Middlewich. The donation follows the housebuilder’s sponsorship of Middlewich Live, an exciting multi-venue music festival launched in 2024 to raise money for the hospice. The festival has quickly established itself as a popular community event, drawing thousands of visitors to enjoy performances from local musicians. In 2025 alone, Middlewich Live raised £8,810.26 for St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire, demonstrating how community spirit and business support combine to make a tangible difference for local patients and their families.
For more than 35 years, St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire has been providing specialist palliative care to people across the region. Founded in the late 1980s, the hospice grew from local fundraising efforts and has remained rooted in community support ever since. Today, it cares for more than 1,000 people each year who are living with life-limiting illnesses, offering services that extend beyond the scope and funding of the NHS. Almost 85% of the hospice’s work is made possible by charitable donations and sponsorships like the one given by Taylor Wimpey, highlighting how crucial local fundraising remains.
Rachel Hughes, Community Fundraiser at St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire, said: “Since 1988, we have been providing vital end-of-life care to patients across Mid and South Cheshire, and our generous donations fund the majority of the care we provide. Middlewich Live has been a huge success for the second year running, with local people not only donating generously but also enjoying the fantastic musicians from in and around Middlewich. What is really special is businesses like Taylor Wimpey sponsoring these types of events to ensure they can happen, but also donating directly to us to further ensure we continue to provide the necessary care that we have been giving to patients for more than 35 years.”
The donation and sponsorship are not only financial gestures but also symbolic of the strong ties between businesses, residents, and community causes. Taylor Wimpey’s presence in Middlewich through its Millstream Meadows development makes this partnership particularly meaningful.
Sam Evans, Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey Manchester, explained the motivation behind the company’s support: “We were incredibly proud to be able to sponsor Middlewich Live this year and provide additional funds to St Luke’s Hospice as part of this. St Luke’s Hospice is an inspiring charity that has continued to work hard to provide the best end-of-life care possible for people in Cheshire. It’s so important to us as a business building a new development in Middlewich to support the families within the communities in which we build. We hope our sponsorship and donation can go towards giving patients in need of palliative care and their loved ones the support they need.”
St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire provides an extensive range of services designed to meet the needs of patients and their families at every stage of illness. Support begins from the moment of diagnosis and continues through treatment, symptom management, advanced care planning, and end-of-life care. Services are wide-ranging and delivered by a skilled team that includes nurses, complementary therapists, social workers, counsellors, benefits advisers, befrienders, and the Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy team. The hospice’s approach is holistic, focusing not only on clinical care but also on emotional, social, and spiritual wellbeing.
Patients benefit from options such as Day Hospice Services, where they can attend Wellbeing Days that help manage symptoms, regain confidence, and improve quality of life. Complementary therapies are also offered, providing support for stress, pain, and anxiety, and can even be delivered in patients’ homes when travel is not possible. Occupational therapy sessions help patients maintain independence and cope with fatigue, breathlessness, or reduced mobility, while carers are supported with advice, equipment, and emotional guidance. St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire also offers telephone consultation care, where nurses and therapists provide advice and emotional support remotely, helping to reduce isolation and give patients and families confidence in managing conditions at home.
The hospice has continually evolved over the decades to meet changing needs. From its beginnings in the 1980s when it first admitted Day Hospice patients, to the opening of inpatient wards and the launch of its lottery in the 1990s, through to research partnerships, dementia care initiatives, and community outreach projects in the 2000s and 2010s, St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire has consistently expanded its capacity and services. Today it continues to innovate, offering new initiatives such as its Night Care Service in the community, dementia carer workshops, and expanding digital support through its website.
Despite this growth, the ethos of St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire has remained constant: to serve the community with compassion, respect, and excellence.
Inspired by the ideals of hospice founder Dame Cicely Saunders, the team remains committed to being, in her words, a “beacon of hope with a message of care and community.” The values of caring, collaboration, honesty, and resourcefulness underpin every aspect of the hospice’s work, ensuring patients and families receive not only clinical care but also comfort and dignity at the most difficult times of their lives.
Donations like the £250 gift from Taylor Wimpey Manchester may seem modest when compared to the scale of the hospice’s work, but they represent something far greater. They are part of a larger tapestry of generosity, from fundraising events like Middlewich Live to individual supporters who give their time, money, or expertise. Together, these contributions make it possible for St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire to continue its mission of helping local people “live the life they can” for as long as possible, while also supporting their families through the journey.
As St Luke’s Hospice Cheshire looks ahead, the need for community support remains urgent. With demand for palliative care growing and NHS resources stretched, partnerships with local businesses and the success of community events are crucial. The pink lights of Middlewich Live, the music enjoyed by thousands, and the quiet generosity of donations all add up to something profound: a message that the community stands together to care for its most vulnerable members.
