03/11/2025
Clare Cannon, along with her sister Tracy Doherty and kindly supported by family and friends, recently held their 15th annual fundraising dance in memory of their beloved mum, Tess Smyth.
This year’s event was once again a great success. A wonderful night filled with music, dancing, laughter and memories, bringing family, friends and the local community together to celebrate Tess’s life.
Thanks to everyone’s generosity, the event raised over £6,000 for the hospice!
A huge hospice thank you goes to Clare, Tracy, and all the family, friends, and local businesses who supported the night — whether by attending, donating prizes, or spreading the word. Your support makes an incredible difference, helping us continue caring for patients and families through the most challenging times.
Clare and her family have been fundraising for the hospice since 2009, when we cared for their mum. Through their tribute fund in Tess’s memory, they have now raised an amazing total just over £118,000.
Speaking about organising an in-memory event, Clare shared:
“It may seem daunting and overwhelming at first, but when you put your mind to it and remember what a wonderful cause you are doing it for, anything is achievable.
"I remember the first tribute dance I organized, all I could think about initially was, ‘Let’s get some money raised for this amazing charity that helps so many patients and their families, especially our own, and secondly, I wanted to do this in memory of my mum.’ I hadn’t taken into account all the planning for such a big event, but as the years have gone on, I just make sure I am super organized and keep notes from the year before of contacts/attendees, etc so I just start all over again and want to make each year better than the last.
"After my first dance, I thought that would be the last. However, after receiving wonderful feedback, and everyone kept asking when the next dance was. I booked it the following day, so I didn’t have to think about it or change my mind.
"Lastly, apart from raising money, my biggest joy and reward is seeing friends and the local community coming together to have a wonderful night catching up with one another – it is something that doesn’t happen often enough as local dances are not heard of much now, so given the opportunity, everyone is up for this opportunity to get together”.
To view Tess’s tribute: https://loom.ly/68c2ws8
Photo of Tess’s children, (left to right) Clare Cannon, Tracy Docherty, Angela Smyth, James Smyth
