I officially took up the role of chief executive at Bury Hospice last November.

Through my weekly column I want to help promote the amazing work of the hospice to as many people possible.

I am very proud to be at the helm of Bury Hospice, which is such a vital service in Bury and has affected the lives of people locally in the 31 years it has been operating.

As an independent charity, it costs £3.5m to run our services with an 18 per cent contribution from the NHS.

The remainder of £3m is generated via the income generation teams and support from the community through donations, regular giving, fundraising, legacies and playing our weekly lottery.

Thousands of people every year generously choose to donate to and buy from our charity shops.

Others volunteer their time because the charity is dear to them.

We currently have over 460 volunteers who are invaluable in helping run our shops, reception and fundraising.

We have teamed up with online memorial charity MuchLoved to help bereaved friends and family members build personal tribute web pages in memory of a loved one, while supporting the hospice.

It is free of charge to set up a tribute page and once setup you can invite friends and family to join the page and choose the types of contributions people can leave.

Throughout the year you can celebrate key moments and dates by lighting a candle, uploading photographs, videos, music, a biography and donating in their memory.

Bury Times: Bury Hospice nursesBury Hospice nurses (Image: Bury Hospice)

Anyone who would like more information on our tribute pages can visit https://www.buryhospice.org.uk/give-in-memory or to set up a tribute page simply follow the link https://buryhospice.muchloved.org/CreateMemorial

Another way you can support the hospice is by signing up to Amazon Smile.

Visit www.smile.amazon.co.uk and select Bury Hospice as the charity of your choice.

Amazon will then donate 0.5 per cent of purchases to the hospice.

Partnerships are key for the hospice and we have recently welcomed a new partnership with We Buy Books.

You can now donate to Bury Hospice by selling your unwanted books, CDs, DVDs or games online.

We Buy Books is a specialist recycling company which are giving sellers the option to donate to charity.

All you have to do is begin the selling process on their website and instead of entering your payment details, you can choose to donate to Bury Hospice.

For further details and to sell your items, visit https://www.webuybooks.co.uk/

Donations of all kinds help contribute towards the running costs of the hospice, which is constantly evolving to meet demands of our community to ensure that it is sustainable and here to help patients and their loved ones for many years to come.

For more information about Bury Hospice or to support our organisation visit www.buryhospice.org.uk