When Mary Miller gathered a small group of neighbours together in 2001 with a simple idea to raise money for North Devon Hospice, nobody could have imagined quite where it would lead. Twenty-five years on, the Riverside Support Group is celebrating a remarkable milestone, having raised £177,500 for North Devon Hospice through a wonderful collection of events that have brought communities on both sides of the River Taw and Torridge together for a quarter of a century.
Jenny, who joined the group in 2003 and served as Chair from 2004 until December 2018, was there to see much of it unfold firsthand. "Mary had this extraordinary gift for bringing people together, which has continued on within the group. Every quiz night, every cream tea, every slightly chaotic garden party has been so much more than just fundraising. It's been about friendship, laughter and community, and I think that's exactly what Mary intended. Reaching 25 years feels like the most wonderful way to honour her memory."
Janet took over as Chair from Jenny in 2018 and has continued to build on the group's wonderful foundations, steering it through to this landmark anniversary.
The group began life as the Instow and Yelland Hospice Support Group before being renamed the Riverside Support Group in 2003, reflecting its members' homes on both sides of the River Taw and Torridge estuary. Over the years the group have created some genuinely brilliant events. Wineman's Bluff, where teams of four go head-to-head trying to catch out a panel of sommeliers, became one of the most talked-about evenings in the local social calendar and even won the backing of Geoffrey Cox, the former North Devon MP. The group's popular quizzes and café at the Appledore Book Festival have been a fixture for years, as has their monthly Appledore Craft Fayre Café at St Mary's Hall, Appledore. Their annual Christmas Market, held at the Durrant Hotel, Bideford on the third Thursday in November, has also become a much-loved date in the local calendar. Meanwhile, their open garden days, complete with Pimm's, strawberries and a proper Devon cream tea, have given the whole community a lovely excuse to get together and do something brilliant at the same time.
Becky Brennan, Community Fundraiser at North Devon Hospice, says the group holds a very special place in everyone's hearts. "What the Riverside Support Group has achieved is just incredible. Every hour of every day, North Devon Hospice gives outstanding care to people living with a life-limiting illness, wrapping up the whole family so every precious moment can be lived with support and dignity. None of that is possible without people like this. To put the £177,500 they've raised into context, that could have funded a nurse on our Bedded Unit for more than three and a half years, or around 2,274 visits by our Clinical Nurse Specialists to patients being cared for in their own homes. Behind every one of those numbers is a patient and a family who needed us. The Riverside Support Group has helped us be there for them."
The Riverside Support Group is always happy to welcome new faces into the fold. Whether you want to help plan events, lend a hand on the day or simply come along and enjoy the fun, they'd love to hear from you. Twenty-five years of friendship, fundraising and community spirit is very much worth celebrating, and there's plenty more still to come.
