Employees raise £13,842 for Hope House and set new Offa’s Dyke challenge

Employees of two Shrewsbury-based companies have raised £13,842 for Hope House children’s hospice and have pledged to carry on fundraising for the charity during 2023.

Staff from Morris Leisure who own six caravan/holiday home and touring caravan sites in Shropshire, Herefordshire and North Wales, alongside their colleagues from Morris Lubricants, organised a wide range of imaginative fundraising ideas to contribute to the total.

Now they are planning fundraising activities for 2023 including to walk the entire 177-mile Offa’s Dyke path – the distance equates to one mile for each employee.

One of the biggest contributors to the 2022 total was a 125-mile sponsored cycle ride by four workmates from Morris Lubricants which raised £3,500. The return route to Shrewsbury included four Morris Leisure caravan holiday home and touring caravan sites and Hope House hospice in Morda.

Morris Lubricants’ executive chairman Andrew Goddard joined the four cyclists for the final four-mile leg of the ride, pedalling a vintage bread delivery bike that was used when the company’s founder James Kent Morris ran a grocery shop in Shrewsbury.

Other fundraising contributions throughout 2022 included a Morris Bake Off with a cake stall, a football match and family fun day, a Christmas jumper day and a raffle to win a day off work.

“Raising £13,842 for local charity Hope House is a great team effort by the employees of both companies,” said Andrew Goddard. “It shows tremendous community spirit and support for Hope House which is a wonderful charity that does phenomenal work.

“Because everybody wanted to get involved and do something to help raise money locally, we have decided to carry on supporting Hope House throughout 2023, an organisation who provide such important care to children, young people and their families.”

Looking forward to this year’s main fundraising challenge - walking the length of Offa’s Dyke - he said: “It’s 177 miles long, so we are trying to persuade every employee to walk one mile, although I’m sure some will do a lot more than that.”

Bekki Fardoe, area fundraiser for Hope House, said: “We are really grateful to Morris Lubricants and Morris Leisure for supporting us as their charity of the year throughout 2022 and raising a staggering £13,842 for the children and families that we provide vital support for.

“The monies they have raised are going to make a huge difference in ensuring we can continue to be here for every family that turns to us.

“We are over the moon that the staff have chosen to support us for another year and I can’t wait to hear about the activities that are planned for 2023.”