Last year, we sponsored a huge, decorative snail all in aid of raising money for one of Brighton and Hove’s amazing charities – Martlets Hospice. The Snailspace street art campaign that put out a positive mental health message to #BeMoreSnail went on to raise thousands of pounds through sponsorship, merchandise sales and the final snail auction.

Fast forward 12 months, and we’re still going above and beyond to help Martlets out – but now as their Internet services supplier. Naturally, we wanted to shout about the fact that Martlets are a customer of ours. We’re proud to work with them, and to know that the charity is benefiting from fast, reliable and secure connectivity is a great feeling.

We spoke to Bobby Dohl, Director of Finance and Support Services, about what Martlets do, and their relationship with Fastnet. He started by giving us an overview of the charity.

Martlets’ hospice opened in 1997, with 18 beds in a purpose-built inpatient unit. The staff and services were formed from the merger of three separate charities: Coppercliff Hospice, Tarner and MacMillan Day Hospice. Across the hospice services, more than 25,000 local people have been supported since 1997.

Martlets continues to provide terminally ill people in Brighton and Hove, and surrounding areas, with the very best care and support. Our expert team helps patients live life to the full during the precious time they have left. Most people receive care from us in their own homes. Outpatients also visit our hospice for pain relief, physiotherapy, counseling, welfare advice and social activities. Others choose to spend their final days here, or to join us as inpatients for respite care or symptom management.

Martlets Gardening Volunteers

After sponsoring the Feelin’ Groovy snail, decorated by local street artist Pinky, we asked Bobby how Martlets benefited by the Snailspace campaign.

We were thrilled that as a trusted provider, Fastnet also wanted to partner as a Snailspace sponsor. Snailspace could not have happened without the support of businesses like Fastnet. As a campaign it attracted huge, varied audiences, allowing Martlets to spread a deeper understanding of the need, variety and accessibility of our care. It raised £300,000 for Martlets – an amount no other stand-alone fundraising event could match. These funds go directly to patient and family care. For Martlets it was a joy to work closely on something as positive and creative as Snailspace and to experience the enthusiasm and imaginative work of the city’s businesses.

With over 10 sites including charity shops and the hospice, Martlets rely on secure internet to enable them to communicate internally and externally efficiently. Fastnet enable them to do this, providing a private WAN solution via our MPLS core and Palo Alto firewalls. I asked Bobby to speak about their experience using Fastnet.

Fastnet were incredibly helpful in the planning and implementation of our move from a prior supplier to Fastnet. The preparation was absolutely key, and Fastnet worked closely with Martlets ensuring a smooth transition. I would definitely recommend working with the Fastnet team.

Working with Fastnet if simply fast and flexible. We know who to deal with and we work closely together to get what we need done. We go for long periods of time not needing very much at all and that is a sign of the of the reliability of the services we procure.

Martlets Charity Shop Volunteers

Thanks to Bobby for taking the time to speak to us. We have been to the hospice several times, and most recently to take these photographs. We are always completely in awe of the incredible work the people at Martlets do, and the hospice is a beautiful place to visit.

Donate to Martlets now by clicking here.