Bradford-based Yorkshire Garden Centres has announced that Martin House Children's Hospice will be its Charity of the Year for 2025, ten years after its first site at Tong supported the Wetherby based registered charity.
Through a series of fund-raising events, collection boxes at the tills and a new ‘Pennies' initiative, the teams at Yorkshire Garden Centres' seven sites at Tong, Tingley, Otley, Bingley, York, Scarborough and Pennine hope to raise £30,000 for the independent charity that cares for babies, children and young people with life-shortening conditions from across West, North and East Yorkshire.
The Charity of the Year fundraising is managed by a committee led by the People and Culture team. YGC's Group People and Culture Manager, Steph Harrison said: "Every year Martin House cares for more than 550 children and their families, as well as supporting around 200 bereaved family members, at its hospice, in hospitals and in the community. It is open 24/7, 365 days a year, whenever families need help and support.
"It costs around £10.5 million a year to provide this care, the majority of which comes from voluntary donations and fundraising. We're proud to adopt Martin House as our charity of the year and look forward to smashing our fundraising target."
Plans to raise funds include a cycling sportive organised by the group's directors, a sponsored family walk, charity bag collections, Grass Hoppers parties plus in-house raffles, bake-off competitions, and the Pennies initiative whereby customers will be given the chance to donate 25p at the till point. There will also be an internal raffle for the YGC team to win an additional day's holiday.
Chris Verney, Capital Appeal Fundraiser at Martin House said: "We're delighted that Yorkshire Garden Centres are supporting Martin House again this year, ten years after we were their first charity of the year at Tong, and we're really looking forward to working closely with them to develop this ambitious partnership.
"Their dedication to keeping gardens and homes at the heart resonates strongly with us as we progress with The Build at Martin House, reshaping our gardens and creating the hospice our families deserve. Their support will mean that children and families across the region will continue to receive the vital, specialist care they need, when they need it most."
Martin House has 15 beds, nine for babies and children, and six for teenagers and young people. Its support includes planned respite stays, symptom control, emergency care, end of life care and bereavement support.
Since Tong Garden Centre was acquired in 2015, the team and supporters have raised over £100,000 for charity. Previous beneficiaries of the Charity of the Year initiative include Yorkshire Children's Charity, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Forget Me Not Children's Hospice, Luke's Lads,Butterflies Mental Health, The Cellar Trust, Candlelighters and National Literacy Trust. In addition, the team has supported hundreds of smaller charities in the local community through its Kindness Pot initiative.
The Yorkshire Garden Centres (YGC) group comprises Tong, Tingley, Otley and Bingley Garden Centres, Dean's York and Scarborough plus the former Dobbies Pennine site at Shelley, near Huddersfield.
