Student Raises £1,500 for Charity

A local college student has raised £1,500 for St Michael’s Hospice after holding a coffee morning in Hastings.

Kirsten Harman, who studies Level 3 Business at Sussex Coast College Hastings, held the event at Sacred Heart Primary School in Hastings on Saturday 20th May to raise money for the charity.

Kirsten organised and hosted the event in-aid of St Michael’s Hospice as part of a college course module, but also had a personal motivation to raise money for the Hospice.

Kirsten said: “We had just over a month to identify, plan and hold an event for one of our modules. However, I was already planning to raise money for St Michael’s Hospice, so thought that it would be a great opportunity to combine the two.

I really wanted to give something back to the Hospice after the care and support they gave to my Nan before she passed away, and this seemed like the perfect way.”

Kirsten took on the task by herself and managed to secure a venue, prizes and gifts for a raffle, and publicise the event, all with next to no cost.

“The generosity of everyone I spoke to was amazing. The school kindly let me have the hall for free, my friends and family helped spread the word and baked loads of fabulous cakes, and local businesses were able to donate lots of great prizes.

I sold raffle tickets to raise more money for those people who couldn’t make it along to the coffee morning. The raffle prizes were amazing; people won tours around vineyards, discounted entry to attractions, and food vouchers. The Hastings Adventure Golf also donated generously, which was just phenomenal.”

200 people came along to the coffee morning to show their support, enjoy cream teas, slices of cake, and lots of tea and coffee.

“I was gobsmacked when I counted the total at the end of the day, and couldn’t quite believe how much we had raised. I’m very grateful to everyone who donated and I’m glad to be supporting the Hospice.”

Jodie Cornford, Fundraising Manager at St Michael’s Hospice said: “Kirsten has done amazingly well, especially knowing the time constraints she was faced with; one month to plan and deliver the coffee morning, whilst also studying and working.

I know it has been a difficult time for Kirsten, but I am really pleased to have been a part of her journey and witness the passion that she has for fundraising and event planning. We are all extremely proud of her achievements, both personally and in terms of her fundraising, as well as being grateful for her support and kindness.

I know that Kirsten is very appreciative of the support that her friends and family have given her, but also the generosity of strangers that either came along on the day or donated in advance, this really does show the spirit of our community.

We all wish Kirsten the very best for the future and look forward to working with her again soon.”