Sun shines on Thornton Hall, raising £25,000 for Marie Curie

A sunny Sunday in the stunning gardens of Thornton Hall near Darlington was the perfect setting for a highly successful event in aid of Marie Curie, raising a spectacular £25,000.

On 3 July Mike and Sue Manners, who together with the Teesdale Fundraising Group for Marie Curie, welcomed more than 400 guests to tour their gardens, enjoy lunch and take in fundraising activity to benefit the local Marie Curie services.

Speaking after lunch, Mark Winton, Head of Community Fundraising for Marie Curie UK, told guests: “You are here today to support a truly wonderful charity. Each year Marie Curie supports more than 40,000 people living with a terminal illness, and their families, completely free of charge.”

He added that Marie Curie is exceptionally busy across the North East and especially in County Durham, where its nursing services work 24/7, providing expert advice and help over the phone and if needed respond with a home visit within one hour of the call. Mark Winton concluded by thanking guests warmly for their support, saying: “The money that we are raising at the lunch today is going to those local services.”

Simon Nixon of Addison’s stepped up to conduct an entertaining auction for a brilliant list of lots, including fly fishing, grouse shooting, outings to the County Cricket Club, Darlington Rugby Club and Mark Johnston Racing, a private tasting at Bon Coeur Fine Wines, breaks at two of the region’s best hotels and a week on Barbados.

The auction raised more than £10,000 with the entire event raising £25,000– a truly significant result in view of the £5m a year that needs to be made by fundraising groups across the UK to support Marie Curie services like those that benefit our area.

None of this would have been possible without the willingness of the many guests present on this sell-out occasion to dig deep for the charity, or the good will of the many who couldn’t attend but sent donations or Tombola prizes. The Teesdale Fundraising Group is especially grateful to Mr and

Mrs Manners and to the business sponsors whose contributions meant that the funds raised on the day go directly to Marie Curie.

Principal among these were Latimer Hinks, Savill’s, Addison’s Surveyors, Darlington Farmers’ Mart, Thomas Watson’s Auctioneers and Lycett’s Insurance. Many other enterprises and individuals gave their professional and personal services to make ‘Lunch at Thornton Hall’ a day to remember; they include Mary Gilbertson who led the floristry team, Kieron Goldsborough who designed the stationery, Amanda Hodgson who took photographs and Sandra May who made the decorations.