Butterwick Hospice has announced that Malcolm Knott, Managing Director of Teesside-based industrial solutions firm Industrial Technology Systems Limited (ITS) has joined as a Corporate Partner.
Malcolm, who became a Corporate Supporter to the charity in 2016, was invited to become a Corporate Partner following 12 months of financial and public support. Corporate Partners commit to remain with Butterwick Hospice for several years in order to offer them financial security, as well as the altruistic benefits that come from backing a charity close to their hearts.
Butterwick Hospice was founded in Stockton by Mary Butterwick, OBE, in 1984. It currently has three sites in Stockton and Bishop Auckland providing support to adults and children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. The sites provide 24-hour care to 2,000 patients across the region.
Malcolm Knott said: “Since ITS was founded 26 years ago, we have always done something for charity, but we’ve picked different causes every few years. Having visited the Butterwick on several occasions, I’ve made the decision to commit to them for the foreseeable future.
“We started working with the hospice last year as a Sponsor, and as well as donating the money we agreed to, we also held events including dress down Fridays, entering a team into the Butterwick Golf Tournament at Rockliffe Hall and sponsoring a hole, and encouraging our staff to donate goods to the charity shop.”
He added: “Butterwick Hospice is a fantastic local charity, and seeing the nurses working with the patients, especially the children, is inspiring and humbling. It’s an essential service, though one we all hope we’ll never need.
“Now that ITS is a Corporate Partner, the team and I have a lot of events in the pipeline to raise money and awareness. I would like more of my employees to have the opportunity to visit the hospice and see how it works. People don’t like to talk about these things, but spending time there really helps you to understand what they do.”
Anne Cooling, Corporate Partnership Manager at Butterwick Hospice, said: “We are delighted to welcome Malcolm Knott as a Corporate Partner. We have been overwhelmed by the support he and ITS have offered us since 2016, and this further commitment demonstrates how important the hospice is to the local community.
“Butterwick Hospice relies on the generosity of the community, and Corporate Partners like Malcolm provide us with the funds to carry on the important work we do with patients with life-limiting illnesses. I’d like to say thank you to Malcolm and the staff at ITS for all their support, and I am thrilled they will be continuing to fundraise for us long term.”