Cutting and counting 100,000 Recorder vouchers earns St Francis Hospice, Havering-atte-Bower, £1,000 cheque

The vouchers arrive in our office. L-R: Recorder staff Pooja Minhas, Gill Broad and Elizabeth Akinpelumi

Ramzy Alwakeel, Reporter Sunday, January 13, 2013
6:00 PM

The hard work of two volunteers who trimmed and counted nearly 100,000 vouchers has paid off – in the form of a £926 cheque for St Francis Hospice.

Ash Sen and Paul Gersh, who have spent years counting out 100,000 Sure Save vouchers that will be turned into a cheque for St Francis Hospice

Ash Sen, 75, spent four years cutting and stacking the Sure Save vouchers, which are worth 1p each and can be cut out of the Romford Recorder each week.

Along with Paul Gersh, 65, who has been volunteering at the hospice for two years, Ash worked through stacks of vouchers that had been hand delivered by dedicated hospice supporters week after week.

“The vouchers have a long history,” said Ash, of Romford. “Some are several years old.

“It’s not only our effort in there – it’s all the people who bought the paper who had the perseverance of sending it to us every month of every year.”

Paul described the task as a “labour of love”, but admitted it got dull at times.

“The problem is you’re sitting there with one another but you can’t chat because you lose count,” he said.

The 92,600 vouchers have now been delivered to the Recorder office and will be converted into a cheque.

Sorted into bundles, many of them date back to the 1990s – and the earliest specimen is from 1985.

In addition, we have had 102 vouchers dropped off with the hospice’s name on – bringing the total to £927.02.

They will now be processed by Recorder design and marketing staff including Elizabeth Akinpelumi, Gill Broad and Pooja Minhas.

“It’s an amazing effort,” said the hospice’s Sue Wilson. “I’d like to say a big ‘thank-you’ to all those Recorder readers who have cut out 100,000 Sure Save vouchers from their newspapers to raise £1000.

“The money will help us continue providing our specialist services free to local people with life-limiting illnesses.

“I must also give particular praise to two of our volunteers, Paul Gersh and Ash Sen, as they counted out those 100,000 vouchers.”

If you would like to donate your Sure Save vouchers to St Francis Hospice, pop them in the post to the fundraising department: St Francis Hospice, Broxhill Road Havering-atte-Bower RM4 1QH.

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