Sawbridgeworth local, Ange Chan, has raised an outstanding £10,000 for Isabel Hospice in memory of her late husband, Steve, with the help of iconic pop group, Soft Cell.
Steve Chan, a loving father and Metropolitan Police officer decorated for his bravery, was cared for at the Isabel Hospice in-patient unit for 11 weeks before passing away on November 10th, 2023. His devoted wife, Ange, stayed by her husband’s side for every day of his stay.
After relinquishing the role of being Steve’s carer, which she had done for the two years following his diagnosis, to our nurses Ange remained driven to continue helping in any way that she could. Overwhelmed by the high level of care Steve was receiving, Ange decided to create a fundraising page to appeal for donations to Isabel Hospice in Steve’s name.
“I thank the Lord every single day that he was at Isabel Hospice instead of in an NHS hospital because he wouldn’t have had anywhere near the level of care, the food that he received, or the company.” Ange reflected.
“I know when I left, at the end of the day, various members of staff would go and sit with him and chat with him when he was able to, so he didn’t feel alone.”
With Ange’s friends and family eager to show their love and support for Steve, the fundraising page, quickly surpassed its initial target, reaching over £1,000 within days and eventually hitting £6,580 from 261 donations.
The fundraising efforts received a significant boost when Chris Smith, the manager of pop duo Soft Cell, best known for their 1981 hit “Tainted Love”, donated to the fundraiser.
Ange, a Soft Cell fan since 1981, has attended countless Soft Cell concerts over the years and is such a loyal fan that she was even invited to band member Dave Ball’s 60th birthday party.
In a display of the band’s gratitude for Ange’s decades of support, Soft Cell later made a further cash donation and listed a platinum record for auction and donated the proceeds, bringing the total raised in Steve’s name to an incredible £10,000.
“We heard about [Ange’s] situation and obviously we knew her through the fan base” said Soft Cell manager Chris Smith “we saw that she’d posted the fundraiser for the hospice and we decided we wanted to get it above £10,000, which we did in the end.”
“When Chris Smith, the manager said that they were auctioning this platinum disk. I thought what a generous thing to do, completely generous.” Ange said, “Chris has just been amazing; he’s been absolutely amazing.”
Isabel Hospice’s Senior Individual Giving Officer, Conor Williams, said, “It was Isabel Hospice’s privilege to care for Steve, and we are deeply grateful to Ange, Chris, and Soft Cell for the incredible sum they have raised. Their generosity will go a long way towards allowing us to continue providing essential palliative care to others in eastern Hertfordshire.”
Isabel Hospice has been a cornerstone of support for those facing life-limiting illnesses in eastern Hertfordshire for over forty years, providing compassionate care through services like our Hospice at Home team, In-Patient Unit, and Living Well Day Centre. In the year 22/23 alone our services were used by almost 2000 people.
Because of donations from generous supporters like Ange and Chris, Isabel Hospice is able to provide this high level of care at no cost to our patients.
“The hospice makes a real difference to end-of-life care,” says Ange “It gave me peace of mind and confidence that he was being well looked after and that he was truly in the best place that he could be at the end of his life.”
The care that Steve received at Isabel Hospice would not have been possible without the generous donations from kind supporters like you.
