At our recent AGM we appointed the following companies to assist our operations:

AUDITOR - Yiannis Pouyiouros of Provision Accounting Services Ltd

LAWYER - Ms Marilena Kaizer, of Marilena Kaizer Law.

We would also like to give a big thanks to the following organisations and people who have assisted us over the years :

Peter Morton Removals   -   Status Insurance   -   Frog & Toad   -   Home Market   -   Ann Friend   -   RSS Removals   -   AETOS Plus Property Management

We would like to thank Ann Friend, former Manager of our Town shop, for all her hard work over the years in support of the Charity. Ann is our first Honorary Member and is receiving her Certificate from our Chairman, David Hart. We wish her well in her retirement. Ann has returned to us for a few months to manage the Town shop again.

BREAKING NEWS

DONATIONS TO THE HOSPICE

We donated 108,000 Euros to the Archangel Michael Hospice in 2022.  and we are pleased to say that we have already surpassed that figure in 2023 (114,000 by the end of July) .  We are so proud of our volunteers who have gathered in this amount, mainly through our shops, under Covid conditions. Thanks also to all our customers who have donated stock during the year.

OUR SHOPS

We regret to say that our Town shop closed its doors for the last time on 21 May 2022. The Roadworks has made it no longer viable as customers have found it difficult to reach. We want to thank all our volunteers who have worked in this shop and are pleased that some of them are now volunteering in another of our shops.

Our Harbour shop has had a major facelift and is now rebranded "Wardrobe" to match its sister shop in Agapinoros. This shop now has the option of a card reader for payment.

Our other shops are continuing to offer good quality items at reasonable prices. Why not come in and have a look?

Donations

All our shops need good quality clothing, household goods and furniture. Have you had a clear out recently? Do please think of us if you are moving house or leaving the Island. We can collect larger items.

Our Volunteers are always willing to assist you and our shops offer great products at reasonable prices.

Our Mission is, as always, to help fund Archangel Michael Hospice run its day to day operations.

We welcome any feedback from Members or Customers using our contact page.

July 2023

Summer 2022 Newsletter

May 2022 Newsletter

Dear Members and Supporters,
It is already April and how quickly time flies. The Board has been quite active in developing and refining our business plan and objectives for the current year and beyond. Two consecutive years of Covid restrictions made a significant dent in our plans to improve our revenue and donations to the Archangel Michael Hospice (AMH) over those earned in 2019. Whilst some of our revenue streams suffered e.g. Events, Charity Boxes, Donations etc, our core business running our six shops ameliorated the impact and our results were much better than anticipated. It is with grateful thanks to our wonderful shop managers and their dedicated volunteers that we achieved this. So far, 2022 is looking more stable and we are confident that we will, barring any unforeseen circumstances, make a significant improvement during the course of the year.

SMHC Financial Update
Comparing 1st quarter performance year on year requires us to reflect on the first quarter of 2019 due to the impact of Covid restriction in 2020 and 2021. It is heartening to report that we are bouncing back very nicely.
Between 2019 and to the date of writing, we had a change of management and direction in our Geroskipou shop. Additionally, we acquired our own van which has facilitated house clearances and deliveries. We opened a new shop in Agapinoros which is showing great promise and doing well. Along with revenue recovery across all our shops in 2022, our shops have generates €45k in income. This is a 50% increase on 2019 and also on Covid affected years on 2020 and 2021.

Our Shops
In spite of one challenge or another, our shops have performed amazingly well underpinning our overall financial results to date. Whilst our motto is that our “charity shops do not look like charity shops”, we have, after much analysis, come to the conclusion that “one size does not fit all”. Our customer base differs in relation to the shops location. This is driving us to satisfy those market demands primarily and yet, still offering items of interest to all.

Our top performing shop in Geroskipou is being branded as a “Superstore” which offers furniture and household items as well as clothing, bric a brac, books and so on.

Our shop in Peyia is focusing on higher end clothing and has been rebranded as a “Boutique”.

In the meantime, we are re-evaluating our Town shop just off the Messogi Rd. The road works along that road has created challenges regarding access and its location is not as visible to the public as we would like. We also said goodbye to our manager Ann Friend who, after many years with the Charity, has retired and moved back to the UK. Our new manager Helen Dracocardos is currently responsible for the future development of the shop. Please visit and see the changes.

Our “Harbour” shop is beginning to see seeds of recovery following the loss of holiday trade as well as road closures. They are always looking for quality donations which are in short supply in this area.

Polemi very much supports the local area and some passing trade from nearby villages. After many years, our manager Gill Holmes has decided to retire. She has been a valued volunteer and a steadying influence and we will miss her cheerfulness. Thank you Gill for all you have done. You will be missed. Helen Murphy has taken over from Gill. Helen has been a volunteer there for many years and will provide continuity and further development of the shop.

Our new shop in Agapinoros has had a very good first year with results improving month on month. All very encouraging and it should go from strength to strength. It is in a good location and has many good quality items on offer so please, pop in and have a look.


SMHC Planned Events
We have many ideas of the events we would like to hold to supplement the income we earn from our shops. With Covid uncertainty removed for now, we can confirm the following events;
1. SMHC Golf Tournament. This will be held at the Elea golf course on the 15th June.
2. Fashion Show celebrating the 7th anniversary of the opening of the Archangel Michael Hospice. A fashion show and afternoon tea will be held on the 5th July at the hospice.
3. We launched our proposal for 2023 Calendar with the Paphos Photographic Clubs and school and the final selection of the images to be used will be decided by 3 experienced photographers in June, ready for final design and printing.
Full details will appear on our website and face book pages. This will be supported by radio and other media options.

Volunteers Needed
The Charity is desperate for more volunteers to help in a number of areas. We are looking for people who can help in our shops, drivers and helpers to support our furniture initiative based in Geroskipou, event organisers or coordinators. If anyone can donate 4 ours of their time to any or all these areas, it would make a huge difference to our income and the amount we give to the Archangel Michael Hospice in support of their fantastic work. Please please, spread the word.

Charitable Status Update
There is no further progress to report. Our lawyer is working with both the Paphos District Office and the Ministry of Interior.

Michele Brooks (RIP)
It is with great sadness that Michele recently lost her fight for life following a long illness. She was one of the founding supporters of the Archangel Michael Hospice project and for a number of years, was a valued Trustee of the St Michael Hospice Charity board. Those of us, who knew and worked with her, fondly recall her selflessness, her wise council and dedication. She was a beautiful lady both inside and out. Our thoughts and prayers go to Eamon her husband, Emma her daughter and Luke, her son-in-law.


Board Members Update
Our Secretary, Tracey White, has resigned from the board due to work commitments that requires much travelling. Tracey felt she could not give the time and dedication required to support the board. We are very grateful to Tracey and wish her well.

President’s Statement
David Hart was overjoyed to be asked to join the Archangel Michael Hospice Advisory Board. This is the first SMHC appointment and suggests future developments of our Hospice. The role is to provide business knowledge, critical thinking and analysis to increase the confidence and support for the decision makers who represent the Hospice and its future development. It is a role that is complementary to that as President of SMHC, its fund raising activities and making St Michael’s Hospice Charity “The Charity of Choice”.

SMHC Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will be held on the 13th July at the Attikon Theatre in the Old Town Paphos. Start time will be 2.30pm. This is a member’s only meeting.

JULY 2021 Newsletter

We were pleased to have finally been able to hold our 2021 AGM in June. A quorum was established after 30 minutes and all business related issues were covered including voting for a new board. The minutes of the meeting including reports from the Chairman, Treasurer and our Auditor are all available on this website.

Post the AGM, the following Board members were proposed, seconded and voted into the following positions;

David Hart.  President
Keith Smith. Vice President
Chris Peet. Treasurer
David Richards. Secretary
Val Sheepwash. Director without Portfolio

Board Members Vacant Positions

The Board is still looking for an additional two Directors to help in delivering our business plan and achieving our financial targets for 2021 and beyond. Whilst existing roles can be re-caste, if you feel you can contribute and have good networking skills, we would like to hear from you. In particular, we are looking at the following areas for expertise:

 1. Events and Fund Raising
 2. Secretary

The Board is also willing to hear from any individuals, members or non-members, who might be prepared to take on ad-hoc roles supporting the Charity and reporting to a Director.

SMHC Financial Performance

During these first 6 months of 2021 we have been limited to generating revenue through our shops. Due to Covid 19 restrictions, no events of any description have been possible. In spite of partial shop closures due to lockdowns, we have been relatively pleased with signs of recovery.

Our shops have generated sales in excess of Euro 58,000. Slightly ahead of targets we established for them at the beginning of the year. Sundry income and donations increased our revenue to circa Euro 70,000. After expenses we have transferred a total of Euro 54,000 to the Archangel Michael Hospice so far this calendar year.

Our Shops

Our shops are always anxious and keen to receive quality unwanted clothing, gifts, bric- a-brac, furniture etc., which can be sold on to generate much needed income. Please consider us when moving home or having a clear out, we can collect items as well using our own van.

Our mission has always been to be the Charity “go to shop” if you are looking for great value items for you or your family. Please pay us a visit and give us a try and please spread the word.

Retiring Shop Managers

In June we said good bye to Ann Friend who managed our shop off the Polis Road. Ann had been with us since the beginning as both a volunteer and later as a manager.

We also said a big thank you to Gill Holmes who has managed our shop in Polemi. She continues to work as a volunteer in Polemi.

Both have given much time and energy in promoting and progressing sales initiatives in their respective shops for the benefit of the Archangel Michael Hospice.

Charitable Status Update

 Following our AGM, The Paphos District Office (PDO) has been supplied with the following documents which they require;
 If there are no further requirements, the submitted paperwork may ensure confirmation of our full Charitable status by the end of September all being well.

Membership

Time flies when you are having fun as they say. So it may seem odd that we are already talking about 2022 SMHC Memberships. Strictly speaking, members must be enrolled for next year by the end of December 2021. Membership lists are submitted to the PDO before February 2022 and those members are able to vote at any AGM or EGM held in that year. More on this in our September newsletter.Donations

The situation at the Archangel Michael Hospice is ongoing as it continues to struggle and keep its head above water. The Hospice and their wonderful staff do so much for those approaching “end of life” and their families. Whilst the SMHC is doing all it can, it’s not enough. If you have nothing to buy from our shops but can still spare a little bit of money, please make a donation no matter how small. Our shops accept cash donations for which you will receive a receipt. Alternatively, deposit your contributions directly into our account:

St Michael’s Hospice Charity

AGM minutes including confirmation of the removal of a clause in the Constitution

Copy of Register of voters at our AGM
Post AGM voting of board members
Auditors Report
Full Members list including addresses and telephone numbers Comprehensive information on all new recently elected Board Members Our new Constitution in both English and Greek

Account # IBAN # SWIFT

511-01-438550-01
CY84 0050 0511 0005 1101 4385 5001 HEBACY2N

In the comments rubric, please add your name and the word “Donation”. 3

Charity Boxes

We have 60+ blue charity collection boxes located across Paphos district and Pissouri. Once placed in prominent positions, many have given way to sanitiser stations for customers. However, they are usually located in positions close to the tills or entrance doors. If you have excess loose change, please consider adding to the box. Every cent counts and adds up to a most welcome addition to our fund raising. Additionally, our shops have these boxes available on the counters.

Card Machines

To meet the legal requirements recently placed on all retail outlets we have been working with Sumup for them to provide card readers in some or all of our shops. We are hoping that in general, Charity shops may be exempt so that we only place these card readers in shops that need them. There is an upfront cost and of course commission needs to be paid. We expect to have the first machine operating in one of our shops during August.

Volunteers

We are always looking for unpaid volunteers to help inside our 6 shops. Can you offer one morning a week to assist our operation? If so, please do get in touch.

SMHC Fund Raising Arm in the UK

John Kearns, who for many years has been fund raising for the Charity in the UK has retired. Both John and his wife Ann have been very active supporters of the Charity and the hospice. We wish them both all the very best and for Ann’s continued recovery from illness.

The fund raising continues and we will run an article on the new leadership in our next newsletter in October.

Future Events

With planning to start our partnership with Logicom Marathon it will take place on December 11th here in Paphos.Our revenue target is to be set in the coming weeks to give us something to aim for and exceed. We had around 300 walkers/runners last time and we think the number s will be down that gives us more momentum to get more individual sponsorship

We also are looking to have a Fashion Show, Boat trip out of Paphos Harbour, again more details soon.

With have held a lunch and supper jointly with The Paphos Parish to raise extra funds for the Hospice, we are having more lunch/evening events in the next few months are planning to hold a joint lunch or supper with the British Legion in October.

Thank you in anticipation.
With best wishes,
SMHC Board of Directors

Progressing into 2021, there was much hope and optimism that we, as a Charity, would start to make up for the disappointing results we achieved in a year where Covid 19 took centre stage, thwarting all our best endeavours. The year had barely begun when our shops were closed for 5 weeks due to another lockdown. New legislation and associated restrictions for our shops and volunteers kicked in on the 8th February. The consequence was initially a partial reopening primarily due to the requirement for weekly Covid tests for 20% of our volunteer shop workers.

A year end account for 2020 was submitted to our auditor ProVision Accounting on the 9th February. It is hoped that the audit will be completed and published before the end of March. In spite of all the difficulties faced by the Charity, we managed to make donations of €112,000.00 to the Hospice.

Board Members and Their Current Roles

As we prepare for our AGM in April 2021, your Board, all of whom will stand for re-election by the membership, is as follows;

• David Hart – President/Chairman
• Keith Smith – Vice President/Vice Chairman and Shops Co-ordinator
• David Richards – Secretary and Shop Development
• Chris Peet – Treasurer
• Bernard Fleming – Legal and Membership
• Val Sheepwash – Logistics and Health and Safety

Board Members Vacant Positions

Your Board is looking for an additional two Directors to help in delivering our business plan and achieving our financial targets for 2021 and beyond;
Please apply before 14th March 2021

• Events Organiser/ Fund Raising
• Secretary/Communications Director

The Board is also willing to hear from any individuals who might be prepared to take on ad-hoc roles reporting to a Director.

Business Plan

Your Board has developed a detailed business plan to support our financial objectives in line with our Mission Statement, Values and Goals. On the face of it, the plan is ambitious given the current climate and uncertain future surrounding Covid restrictions etc.. But, we must plan and be ready to capitalise on opportunities as they arise.

Finance

Our Treasurers Report for 2020 is below this Newsletter.
This will also be published on our website in addition to our auditor’s report once received.

Our Shops

In conjunction with our shop managers, work is in progress enhancing the design and image of our shops building upon our slogan, “charity shops that do not look like charity shops”. The results of those completed to date are quite stunning.

Our shop development meeting which was held in December was most positive. Many ideas and initiatives were discussed but, (there’s always a “but”), the main drawback was the shortage of quality goods which we could sell. An appeal was made through our website and Facebook pages asking for donations and we have had a reasonable response. However, to meet our financial goals established for our shops, we need more items to sell. If you, our members can help to spread the word, this would help enormously.

Consideration is being given to sell handmade gifts and wooden jewellery made by two local families for which, we would receive commission. Whilst not suitable for all our shops, our smaller Peyia shop, which is focussed on establishing itself as a “clothes boutique”, could do well with these supplementary items.

What has become clear during this past year is the fact that demographics and local markets play a big part in our overall business. For example; our Harbour shop has had a disappointing year by their amazing standards, much of which was due to the lack of tourists and lockdown restrictions. Whereas our shop in Polemi needs more items that are of interest to the local Cypriot community. Our new shop in Agapinoros has a large catchment area comprising of Cypriot and several other nationalities is showing potential.

Our Events

Our SMHC Golf Tournament will be held this year at the Secret Valley Golf Resort. We will be booking teams to compete in March with the aim of fielding 18 teams of four golfers. Our sponsors this year are Blevins Franks and we thank them for their generosity and support.

The Logicom Cyprus Marathon and 5K Fun Run is penned for 5th December. More details will be published when known. This has been our major fund raiser and we look forward to a repetition of the amazing support we have enjoyed from participants and their sponsors.

Charitable Status Update

At the time of writing, our lawyer advises that our constitution and application for full charitable status is progressing. Our 2021 membership submission will be delivered in March after the Board has vetted and approved membership applications. The Treasurers 2020 accounts and the Auditors report also require submission

Membership

We are receiving and processing membership applications. The Board will meet in March to review and approve applications. Approved membership will be invited to our AGM.

Members can join at any time during the course of the year. However their membership must be lodged with District Office before being allowed to vote in any AGM or EGM. It is our intention to update the District Office every quarter for new members and/or, resigning members.

Membership Process. To recap, you will need to complete a new membership application form and present this along with a €5 annual subscription per person. Your application will be processed and approved by the Board upon which your membership will be confirmed.

Your personal details will be maintained and kept secure, in strict accordance with the law. We have appointed a new board member whose responsibility (and has experience internationally with a number of organisations on this issue) is solely to manage this and any legal issues associated with our Constitution. From our updated list of members which must be submitted annually, a revised and updated mailing list will be created.

Donations

The situation at the Archangel Michael Hospice continues its struggle to keep its head above water. The Hospice and their wonderful staff do so much for those approaching “end of life” and their families. Whilst the SMHC is doing all it can, it’s not enough. If you have nothing to buy from our shops but can still spare a little bit of money, please make a donation no matter how small. Our shops accept cash donations for which you will receive a receipt or deposit your contributions into our account:

St Michael’s Hospice Charity
Account # 511-01-438550-01
IBAN # CY84 0050 0511 0005 1101 4385 5001
SWIFT HEBACY2N

Thank you.
With our best wishes

SMHC Treasurers Report for 2020

By Mr Chris Peet. >  Treasurer

Firstly, I would start like to thank Yiannis Pouryiouros and his team of Pro Vision Accounting for auditing our accounts again this year and, at no cost to the Charity. We are extremely grateful for their time and generosity.

As our Mission Statement clearly says, our reason d’etre is to raise funds in support of the Archangel Michael Hospice in order to provide excellence in free palliative and respite care to those in need, irrespective of race, circa €300k per annum.

Overview of 2020

Following a most successful 2019, we were looking forward to building on that success in 2020. Little did we know that this virus, first uncovered in Wuhan, China, would spread and create significant destruction to peoples’ lives and global economies. With a very promising start in January and February, the Charity’s activities came to a grinding halt in March and have not since recovered.

SHOPS

Our shops closed for 6 weeks in March till the end of April 2020. With the exception of our Geroskipou shop, all remaining shops saw varying and significant declines in their income. Our landlords, during March and April, offered us relief on our rental payments and we are very grateful for their help and understanding which contributed to a reduction in our costs over that period.

SMHC shops are central to our fund raising efforts. In February we purchased a second hand van. This was before the impact of Covid hit the island and Europe. Co-ordinated efforts to move stock from one shop to another ensured that we supported and optimized the efforts of our very hard working shop managers and dedicated volunteers. Additionally, we planned to branch out into house clearances which has since become a “life saver” and dramatically boosted our sales from our Geroskipou shop. As a consequence, we managed to achieve gross sales of €138k (-4.5% LY). After expenses, our net income from our shops totaled €106k, down 2.3% on 2019. Something to be proud of.

Since are shops are the key source of income, we decided to open our 6th shop in Aginapour. The lease was negotiated and we were able to start renovations and sales by the 3rd week of November. November sales alone covered all our start up costs associated with the shop. December sales were most promising and boded well for the future. There are so many people to thank for making this possible and this will be covered in our Chairman’s report.

Traditional Revenue Streams

As expected, we have been impacted by lockdown restrictions and economic factors exacerbated with the absence of tourists to Cyprus. This was markedly felt by our very successful harbor shop as an example,

Events and Raffles

We report an income of €3.4k. Of this, €1.4k was from events that were held in Dec 2019. The balance was made up from sporadic events where we held raffles. Our annual golf tournament had to be cancelled which makes a significant contribution. All in all, income was -64% down on 2019.

Donations

We have a regular anonymous donor who has a standing order for which we are very grateful. We also have a donor who makes an annual donation of €1000. Our grateful thanks again. Apart from these two donors, we have had numerous small cash donations which have been deposited at our shops and are accounted for separately, In total, we received just short of €4k which was -41% on the previous year.

Charity Collection Boxes

Previously, many of our boxes enjoyed fairly prominent positions. It was noticeable that after hygiene precautions which include Perspex screens on shop counters and sanitiser stations, the boxes, along with others, were harder to find. Coupled with lockdown restrictions on individual movements, contributions were negatively impacted. Our income from this was €1.6k, down over 50% LY. We are hopeful to improve on this in 2021 with the appointment of two of our volunteers who have been charged with managing collections and box locations.

SMHC UK Fundraising Arm

Our heartfelt thanks to John Kearns who runs our fund raising arm in the UK. After many years of raising funds for the Charity and the AMH, he has decided to call it a day. In this his final year, his donors managed to pay for a new defibrillator for the hospice as well as over €2.8k in funds. Some of this will be reflected in our 2021 accounts. Thank you John very very much.

SMHC Annual 5K Fun Run

A major event which generates in the region of €18k was cancelled at very short notice. A number of entrants, who had received pledges from supporters, were able to raise funds and all our sponsors donated their sponsorship money. Our income was €9.2k against non refundable expenses of €4.6k; we still managed to achieve a positive contribution of €4.6k to our bottom line.

St Michael Hospice Charity Membership

In line with our aim to meet legal requirements to achieve full charitable status meaning we are not liable for taxes, we had to revisit our membership and apply an annual fee for members of the Charity. The minimum sum of Euro 5 per annum was applied and 2021 members were signed up at our Annual General Meeting in July. Membership fees are recorded at Euro 80 in our 2020 accounts.

2020 memberships expired on the 31st December. Former members and new members wishing to join for 2021 must register and pay before the end of February. Membership application forms are available in all our shops.

EXPENSES

With little activity during the course of the year, our expenses were limited to essential costs only apart from the purchase of our van and set up costs for our new shop. The purchase and operating costs of the van came to €6.6k. Whilst this might be considered high by some, the incremental gains are significant and in the region of €15k. Thus, excluding our donations to AMH totaled €35.5k.

Donations to Archangel Michael Hospice

Given the circumstances and the challenges faced by the Charity in 2020 and continues into 2021, donations totaling €112000 was paid to the AMH Board of Directors (Trustees). Whilst significantly down on the previous year, it was something we could only have hoped for in May, the way things were evolving at the time.

Charity Expenses

With total income recorded at €162.1k, total outgoings recorded at €147.3k providing a year end surplus of €14.8k.

Charity Tax Liabilities

It has recently been made known to the current directors on the board of the Charity, that the Charity has been liable for tax payments in the way it conducted its business for a number of years now. The incorrect belief that, the Charity receives donations made it immune from tax liabilities was wholly incorrect. Whilst every effort will be made by the Board to minimize and legalise the Charity’s position, an accrual of €15k was made in the 2020 accounts.

Chris Peet
SMHC Director and Treasurer February 2021

Dear Members,

2021 Membership Notice

We informed you in our December Newsletter that in order to renew your Membership for 2021 you will need to complete a new application form, which is currently available in our shops. The deadline for applications given at that time, before the current lockdown, was 15 February 2021.
 
Now that we are in lockdown again we are writing to inform you that we have extended the deadline for 2021 Membership applications to 28 February 2021. Please print off the Application form below which we would ask you to complete and visit our shops at the end of the current lockdown to deposit it along with your 5 Euros subscription. Application forms will also be available in our shops when they reopen on the 8th February 2021
 
You should remember that if you do not complete the application form before 28 February then we can not legally count you as a 2021 Member and so you would not receive any future communication from us, such as Newsletters. In addition you would lose your right to attend and vote at any EGM/AGM during 2021 (we expect to run an AGM in March/April). You can of course join later in the year if you wish.
 
We would love to have you as a Member again so please do complete and return your application form before 28 February.
 
Best Regards and stay safe
 
Your St Michael’s Hospice Charity Board

Dear Members,

2020 has been a most challenging year in more ways than one. The impact of Covid 19, like so many other businesses, has had a major impact on our fund raising efforts.

But first, the Board would like to apologise for the rather unfortunate and unprofessional AGM that was held earlier in the year. Since that time a number of changes to your Board have taken place and we have progressed on a number of issues such that, we have no need to call an EGM prior to next years AGM. This will be held on the 24th March 2021 (time and venue will be advised in due course), Covid willing.

We hope you will find this newsletter informative and of interest.

Board Changes. At The AGM a number of your Directors decided to give up their roles so a new set of Directors is now in place. Both Keith Smith and Chris Peet have retained their Directorships from 2019 and they have now recently been joined by David Hart, David Richards, Val Sheepwash and Bernard Fleming. All Directors will likely be seeking reelection from you at next year’s AGM. We hope that you will see from the items below that the Board is doing its absolute best to ameliorate a disappointing year and maximise our funding effort in support of the Archangel Michael Hospice (AMH) in addition to, formalising our legal position in Cyprus. 

Our Shops, having lost several weeks of sales during the lockdown earlier in the year we are struggling to achieve the amazing sales we enjoyed in 2019. Their sales have been the backbone of the regular monthly donations we make to the AMH which in themselves, contribute circa 33% of the annual operating costs of the Hospice. Whilst we have been seeking ideas from our amazing volunteers as to how we can increase those sales, we have not been seeing a positive uplift in all shops with the exception of our shop in Geroskipou. 

We cannot thank all our shop managers and volunteers enough for all the hard work they do freely. They have kept to the task and we could ask no more from them.

Our Events, both our flagship annual events; the Logicom Cyprus Marathon and 5 Km Fun walk and our golf tournament at Elea Resort were cancelled. These two events raise over €20,000 and is a most valued source of income. 

Donations to the Charity have also been under pressure. Our blue charity collection boxes that many will see in shops scattered around Paphos have not been doing so well which is not surprising given shop and  bar closures (please note that in some locations, the boxes are hard to find since the space occupied is being used as disinfection points). Two new volunteers have stepped forward to manage and collect the money raised from our “blue boxes”. This will see new and invigorated organisation which will review existing and future locations resulting in an increase in our collections from this source.

We have been blessed with financial donations. Our shop in the harbour area seems to attract some cash donations for which we are most grateful. We also are very grateful to an anonymous donor who has a direct debit for €10 each month. We also are most grateful to another donor who transfers €1000 each year in November. All these donations make such a huge difference. If any of our members feel they can afford to make small regular donations to the Charity, our bank account details are at the end of this newsletter.

Donations to the Archangel Michael Hospice in 2019, our shops and fund raising efforts resulted in us being able to donate €143,800. This was just over 50% of the income the Hospice needs each year for its running and day to day maintenance costs. Of this, our shops alone made a net contribution of €108,476 so the significance of funds raised through our annual events cannot be underestimated.

Charitable Status .The Board is pleased to confirm that all the paperwork required to process our full charitable status is now with the Paphos District Office. We are hopeful that we are now on the finishing straight having experienced a number of additional hurdles since we started the process in 2018. Full credit must be given to our new lawyer Ms Marilena Kaiser who has done a wonderful job helping us overcome these hurdles.

Charity Membership. Under the new constitution, members must renew their membership annually which is valid for one calendar year only. In order to attend and vote in any AGM or EGM, attendees must be members of the Charity and registered with the Paphos District Office (PDO). 

Our shops will shortly be able to process your 2021 membership applications. This you must do no later than the 15^th February 2021 as membership details will be collated and submitted to the PDO for approval. This will ensure we can legally hold our AGM in March. 

Note: In strict accordance with the new Constitution, 2022 members must register and pay their subscriptions from July 2021 through to the end of December 2021. 

Membership Process. You will need to complete a new membership application form and present this along with a €5 annual subscription per person. Your application will be processed and approved by the Board upon which your membership will be confirmed. 

Your personal details will be maintained and kept secure. We have appointed a new board member whose responsibility is solely to manage this and any legal issues associated with our Constitution. From our updated list of members which must be submitted annually, a revised and updated mailing list will be created. 

New members are always welcome and can join at any time. Their voting status will be affected however. We will as a matter of course update our membership lists quarterly and submit those to the PDO. Once accepted, new members will be able to vote.

The Future Our 2021 business plan for our charity is close to completion. With just a few strategic steps to include and we will have a plan of action to enable us to fulfil our future funding goals for The Archangel Michael Hospice. We look forward to your continued support and contribution for the coming year.

Very recently we heard from Logicom that the Paphos Logicom Marathon will be postponed from March until Dec 5th 2021. That gives us much more time to plan this event and maximise our funding objectives. Are you intending to walk or run in the 5k or 10K? Then you have more time for your training regime!

We have confirmed our Annual St Michaels Hospice Golf Competition at The Secret Valley Golf Resort 6th June 2021, Blevins Franks will be our main sponsor on the day. We want to secure sponsors for each hole including "Nearest to the Pin" and the longest Drive with a cost of €150 per hole. Each golfer will get his/her own sponsor to raise much needed funds for the Hospice.

We have just opened our brand new shop in Agapinoros. This is our 6^th shop and is modelled on the success we have seen with our shop in Geroskipou. With a fair wind behind us, we are hopeful to boost our net contributions in the region of €24000 per annum which will make an enormous difference to our shop revenues.

We have lots to achieve in 2021 and with energy and enthusiasm from current (and future hopefully) volunteers, members and benefactors, we are hopeful to at least equal our record breaking year of fundraising in 2019.

Donations Continued. If you are in a position to ameliorate our shortfall in Charity revenues, please consider making any small donations you can afford. As the UK Supermarket Tesco slogan says. “Every little helps”. Please help us to support the fantastic work which the Archangel Michael Hospice does for those approaching “end of life”. Thank you most sincerely.

St Michael’s Hospice Charity

Account # 511-01-438550-01

IBAN # CY84 0050 0511 0005 1101 4385 5001

SWIFT HEBACY2N

New Board Members Your Charity is always looking for new board members who can bring added value to the current Board of Directors. In particular we are looking for someone who can help and organise fund raising events. These are crucial if we are to boost our donations to the AMH. The Hospice will be in need of more income as building maintenance costs increase over time in addition to medical equipment and so on. We are also looking for a Charity secretary to help with the administrative side of all we do.

We hope you find this Newsletter of interest.

Finally, with Christmas a few days away, the Board would like to thank you for your support and wish both you and yours a very happy and peaceful Christmas. 

Keep safe and help keep this awful virus at bay and under control.

With our very best wishes

Your Board of Directors
St Michaels Hospice Charity