Huge fundraising donation goes to Children’s Hospice South West.

Kind-hearted colleagues at Devon’s Tesco stores were among those donating more than £45,000 to help youngsters with life-limiting conditions.

The money was given to Children’s Hospice South West after stores across the region chose the hospice as their charity of the year and set about organising a wide range of fun-filled activities to help the 500-plus children currently receiving care.

Tesco colleagues took part in the hospice’s Rainbow Run Your Way fundraiser, put on a special It’s a Knockout competition, arranged fetes, football matches, head-shaving events, sponsored cycle rides, face-painting, fancy dress, coffee mornings, bake sales, book donations, and many others.

At the end of the year’s sponsored events, they had collected a total of £45,089.15. All the funds will go to the hospice’s three sites – Little Bridge House in Barnstaple, Little Harbour in St Austell, and Charlton Farm near Bristol.

Gary Wills, store manager at Tesco Plymouth, said: “We couldn’t be happier with the total we’ve raised. It’s a huge amount collected thanks to the kindness of a huge amount of people, including our generous customers who really got behind us.

“The work that staff do at Children’s Hospice South West is truly incredible. They make such a difference to the children and to the families of children who are there. It’s amazing.

“I know that the three hospice sites are a lifeline to families, offering resilience stays, emergency visits, home support, end-of-life care and bereavement support.

“Without them, I don’t know what the families and their children would do, and that’s why we selected Children’s Hospice South West as our charity for the year.”

It costs Children’s Hospice South West more than £12million a year to run its three children’s hospices, with more than 85 per cent coming from voluntary donations.

Annabel Roberts, Area Fundraiser for Children’s Hospice South West, said: “On behalf of all of the children and families that we support, I would like to say thank you to all the participating Tesco stores for all their hard work fundraising and for giving us such a generous donation.

“We really do rely on the support of the local community to ensure we can keep providing vital care to families, and it means so much to us that Tesco staff and customers are part of this.”

Further information about Children’s Hospice South West is available at www.chsw.org.uk