Our Patrons

I am delighted to have been associated with Ashgate Hospice for many years. As a member of Soroptimist International of Chesterfield and District, I jointly led the fundraising to provide a conservatory for the hospice and to sponsor a room when Ashgate was extended. I have supported events and fundraising for many years. 

This involvement led to an invitation to join the Board of Trustees – I have been Chair of the Fundraising Committee, Vice Chair and Chair of the Board of Trustees. All these opportunities have given me a greater knowledge and understanding of the work of our hospice. 

Ashgate provides compassionate and expert care to so many people during some of the most difficult times of their lives. Not only is the hospice a wonderful place so too are all the people who work there. Everyone is so supportive and positive even when times are challenging. It is such a joy to witness the love and care shown daily by all the staff. 

Our hospice relies so heavily on community funding and support to enable it to deliver so many services. I was privileged to be asked to become a Patron and in this role I am determined to do all I can to continue to raise awareness of the work of Ashgate Hospice to become more involved in fundraising and to support it in whatever way I can. 

We all need to ensure that our Hospice remains permanently at the heart of our community and continues to serve and support as many people as possible. 

I joined Westfield Health, a not for profit health insurer based in Sheffield, as Chief Executive in 1985 after more than 20 years in personnel management and additionally became Chairman in 1995. I stepped down as Chief Executive in 2008 to concentrate on my role as Non-Executive Chairman and involvement with the Westfield Health Charitable Trust.

After retiring as Non Executive Chairman on Nov 20th 2020 I was honoured to be invited to be Hon Life President of Westfield Health retaining my interest in the Westfield Charitable Trust and Westfield British Transplant Games where I am Patron.

I am delighted and honoured to become a patron at Ashgate Hospice. It has been a privilege to support the charity in my role at Westfield and I will actively promote and raise the profile of this wonderful charity at every opportunity. Ashgate’s services provide a real life-line for people at a time when they need supporting the most. It really is a wonderful charity and one that I am very proud to be associated with. 

David Hopkins is a local businessman with a number of business interests, most notably the Markovitz group, which he owns with his brother Robert. He is the Chairman of Buxton Football Club, encompassing their full-time education Academy in partnership with Buxton & Leek College and the University of Derby. Over and above his support for Ashgate, he founded the initiative #ChallengeDerbyshire, raising money for end-of-life-care in North Derbyshire with 50% of all money raised coming to the hospice.

David said “I started #ChallengeDerbyshire with the aim of raising £100,000 for the three main end of life care charities in North Derbyshire: Ashgate Hospice, Blythe House Hospicecare and Helen’s Trust. We quickly exceeded this amount and now, having engaged other local businesses to get involved, the total raised is over £1.3million. At Markovitz we are very proud to cover all costs associated with running #ChallengeDerbyshire, in our belief that excellent end of life care should be an absolute right for our community and not just a ‘nice to have’.

I am delighted to be a patron of Ashgate Hospice, such a worthy local charity which we should all be doing our utmost to ensure is there for generations to come.”

I was Chesterfield Football Club’s Manager from 2015 to 2017. Football has always been a big part of my life, I played for 18 years and was also a Football Manager of over 1,000 games from Premier League to League Two, including Sheffield United FC, Barnsley, Bristol, Sheffield Wednesday and Chesterfield. 

Having lived in the Ashgate area for over 40 years and seeing many times first hand, the warmth, care and the undoubted expertise Ashgate Hospice staff purvey, I am very proud to be honoured with the chance to act as a Patron. I take pride in contributing to the coordination of the Annual Ball for the hospice. 

With the difficulties that we are facing and the need to keep this well established icon of our area, as strong as ever, it is only right that we can come together as a community to support Ashgate Hospice now and for many years to come. 

Having lost friends and family to cancer recently, I am honoured to have this opportunity to support an important local hospice as a Patron. 

I was born in Chesterfield and now live in London. I am a TV actress and have worked in classical theatre. I was invited to Ashgate Hospice’s Leading Ladies lunch in 2014 where I spoke about my acting career and learned about the hospice and its vital services. I am very impressed by the care and ambition of its leaders and the generosity and heart of its supporters. I hope it continues to develop as it provides this crucial service. 

My company GW Price was started over 115 years ago by my great grandfather and is a successful business selling fruit and produce. After a member of my family was cared for so well by Ashgate Hospice over two years ago, I thought it would be nice to give something back. I supplied all the produce for free between 2016 and 2020 to the Hospice. We support in other ways including providing the bananas for the Sparkle Night Walk and by sponsoring the drinks trolley at the Hospice. 

We are committed to helping Ashgate Hospice in every way that we can, now and in the future. The team at the Hospice are some of the nicest people that I have ever had the privilege to work with and I urge you to help them too, so that they can continue their excellent work for generations to come. 

I’m Peter and I’m the Managing Director of Designer Contracts. We started the company from our spare bedroom in 1992 and it has grown into the UK’s largest flooring contractor – and thereby a business that can help to support wonderful causes like Ashgate.

Our association with the hospice started when one of our longest standing colleagues helped design the Family Room and invited me to attend the opening. I was overwhelmed by Ashgate’s wonderful atmosphere and positivity.

I am also heavily involved with our local church and the Diocese of Derby and I am a Freeman of the City of London. I am honoured to be asked to become a patron of Ashgate and look forward to seeing how I can contribute in the future.