Supporters’ fundraising stories

The perfect partnership

Katharine House Hospice has been proud to work with Zurich Community Trust and the Zurich team in Chipping Norton since 2019.

It all started with their Charity Challenges, but as the relationship grew we were thrilled to secure an official two-year partnership in November 2022 and were awarded a grant of £18,900 to be paid over the two years.

Following on from a successful initial partnership, in 2024 we were overwhelmed to hear that our partnership with Zurich Community Trust was extended for a further two years, including a further grant of £18,000 to be donated to the hospice in 2024 and 2025. The partnership with Zurich Community Trust (ZCT) benefits everyone at the hospice: our patients, their loved ones and our staff. During our partnership we have received over £68,000 in donations and grants and we are overwhelmed by their generosity and support.

It all began back in 2019 when the Zurich team in Chipping Norton began to support the hospice via their Charity Challenges programmes. Twice a year the team at Katharine House set the Zurich team a challenge to support the hospice, either through volunteering or sourcing items that the hospice requires but does not have the income to purchase. The team at Chipping Norton have taken part in 14 challenges since 2019 and there are many more to come!

So many challenges, so much support

As part of the challenges the hospice has received art materials for Living Well patients, donations of plant boxes and seeds, plus art materials so patients can make keepsakes for their loved ones.

The team has also provided our catering team with brand new, sparkly crockery and cutlery for our kitchen, so our patients can eat our delicious home cooked food in style.

We’ve had the team volunteering in our beautiful garden, painting our benches in the Octagon Garden and purchasing much needed supplies, including paint and tools. One of our favourite challenges was in June 2024 when the Zurich team volunteered at our Volunteer Mix and Mingle party in the hospice garden. The Zurich team set up a drinks and cake stand and treated all of our wonderful volunteers to Pimms and cupcakes and they even supplied fabulous raffle prizes for a free raffle for our guests.

Christmas at the hospice

Christmas would not be the same at Katharine House without the support from ZCT and the Chipping Norton Team. They have provided us with Christmas trees and decorations which have been displayed in and around the hospice each year, so that every patient can see a Christmas tree from their bed.

We have received beautiful hampers for our patients at the hospice to open on Christmas Day, plus 300 boxes of chocolates for our patients in the community. They also supplied us with lovely blankets to keep our patients warm in the winter.

In December 2023 and 2025, they threw a party for our Living Well patients which included bingo, a quiz and a delicious Christmas buffet, plus a gift for all our patients and their carers. In 2024, they supported our ‘Inclusive Tractor Visit’ when a Christmas tractor visited the hospice and they set up a stall providing visitors with hot chocolate, mulled wine and delicious festive treats.

Helping Katharine House make every moment matter

Through supporting us via their Charity Challenges programme, Zurich enables us to make our hospice special and sets it apart from other clinical settings; it’s a home from home for patients and their families. At Katharine House we want to make every moment matter and Zurich help us to achieve this. These acts of kindness and generosity might seem simple to some but they mean everything to our patients and their loved ones.

Mark Flay from the Trust said: “Zurich Community Trust is proud that the financial support and other support through employees’ time and skills will help to ease the pressure for charities around the UK that have been selected by Zurich’s UK employees.

“Often the charities selected are those that have a strong reputation locally, such as Katharine House Hospice, as our employees often know of someone that has received amazing care and support for their physical, emotional and other needs from the amazing hospice team.”

Training and sustainability

During our four-year partnership with the Trust, the staff at Katharine House have had free access to a wide range of training opportunities and resources. This enabled our team to fundraise to the best of their ability and also gave us access to resources such as mental health and wellbeing courses, which aligned well with our team of Mental Health First Aiders.

And if that wasn’t enough … in July 2023, we were awarded a Sustainability Grant of £9,983 to help us implement changes with a lower environmental impact at the hospice. With the support from ZCT and the Sustainability Grant we would love to lead the way for hospices wanting to make more sustainable choices.

Thank you!

We are thrilled to announce that the hospice will be going into a third partnership with Zurich Community Trust from January 2026 for three years. Thank you to the Zurich team in Chipping Norton for nominating the hospice as their charity to support and awarding us this new and exciting partnership. Over the three years, the hospice will receive a staggering £60,000 in core funding, plus a further £5,000 each year, to support our staff with training and wellbeing.

We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support that Zurich has provided to the hospice over the years and we very much look forward to working with them during the new partnership. Watch this space to see what happens!

Find out more about Zurich Community Trust and the incredible work they do in the community.

If your business has chosen to support Katharine House then we hope that ZCT’s story has inspired you!