FUNDRAISERS have been given fresh drive after a charity draw for a car raised thousands of pounds for their charity.
The community dug deep helping St Teresa’s Hospice, Darlington, sell thousands of tickets for a host of donated prizes and a Vauxhall Viva sourced by family car dealership Sherwoods.
Proceeds will help equip and run a new 10-bed in-patient unit, the latest landmark in a 30-year commitment to provide the best possible hospice services to Darlington, South Durham and North Yorkshire.
The winning ticket was drawn at Sainsbury’s supermarket, Darlington, by Yvonne Rowe, one of the Darlington & District Hospice Movement’s founding members, with help from chief executive Jane Bradshaw and chairman Harry Byrne.
The star prize winning number was 8054 and a complete list of the winners is available at www.darlingtonhospice.org.uk and www.facebook.com/stteresashospice.
Mrs Bradshaw said: “Once again the community has rallied to our cause helping us raise £20,000 at a really important stage of our history.
“Our new in-patient unit is stunning and will provide patients and their families with unsurpassed treatment and support. We really could not continue our vital work without the continued support of this wonderful region, which has again stepped up the mark.”
The £1.2m single storey unit offers five-star facilities, with all ten private rooms opening out into the hospice gardens or with their own private woodland balcony.
Equipped with an en-suite wet room, energy-efficient under-floor heating, modern ventilation, television and controllable mood lighting, medical equipment also includes a piped oxygen supply and built-in hoists that fold out of sight.
Fundraising provides the money needed to fully furnish and equip each room and cover the £2.2m annual running costs of the hospice and all its services.