Clydesdale Bank employees raise over £55,000 for Scottish hospices

09/2/2009

On 11th February 2009, Clydesdale Bank employees across Scotland will recognise a landmark first anniversary, having raised over £30,000 for Glasgow-based Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice (PPWH) and £25,000 for Children’s Hospice Association of Scotland (CHAS) in just one year.

Including the £55,000 raised for PPWH and CHAS, Clydesdale Bank and its sister organization, Yorkshire Bank have raised over £390,000 for Help the Hospices across the UK. Employees have raised more than £195,000 and the bank has matched their fundraising efforts by adding a further £195,000. 

The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, located beside the River Clyde in Glasgow City Centre, provides specialist palliative care for people with life-limiting illnesses, usually cancer, and support for their families and carers.
CHAS operates hospices in Kinross and Balloch, caring exclusively for children from all over Scotland.

One of the top fundraisers for Help the Hospices was 50-year-old Jock Ferguson, a credit partner at Clydesdale Bank based in Carlisle, who raised £8094.50 by completing the ‘Alphabet Marathon’ – 26 marathons in 26 different cities, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. 

Jock has been running marathons for 25 years, and since 2003, he has been averaging three marathons a year to achieve his goal with his quest taking him from Yiltornio in the Finnish Arctic Circle, to Xiamen on the coast of the South China Sea.  He has run as fast as 2 hours 44 minutes in Edinburgh, to 5 hours 25 minutes on a 5500ft climb in the Jungfrau region in Switzerland.

Maxine Trotter, director of fundraising at Help the Hospices, said: “We’re delighted with the fundraising activities and events that have taken place in the first year of the partnership.  The money raised by the Bank’s employees, as well as their support and enthusiasm, has made a great contribution to the care hospices provide in their communities.  We look forward to continuing our partnership with Clydesdale Bank and further boosting fundraising initiatives to raise money for hospices across the UK.”

Employees across the Clydesdale Bank network were involved in a range of fundraising initiatives, from midnight fun runs, marathons, and quiz nights, to ‘Lock Up Your Boss’ events, abseils and Santa dashes at Christmas. 

Jo Parker-Morgan, fundraiser at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, said: “We are extremely grateful to Clydesdale Bank and its employees for the huge contribution this donation will make to the services we provide at PPWH.

“This will provide 230 home visits to patients from our specialist palliative Laurieston nurses. These visits enable patients to stay in the familiar surroundings where they are most comfortable and optimize comfort and support for both patients and their carers. The fundraising efforts have been really varied and it’s the willingness to help that’s been so notable, not only raising money, but helping us with our day to day running too.”

Irene Swankie, Community Affairs Manager at Clydesdale Bank, commented: “We have exceeded our initial target of £250,000 by over £140,000, which highlights the tremendous efforts our employees have gone to over the past year. Help the Hospices is a very worthwhile charity and we are proud to play our part in supporting the communities in which we live and work.”

Clydesdale Banks head offices and its branches are paired with local hospices – a distinctive aspect of the Help the Hospices corporate partnership programme, which allows businesses to support hospice care on both a national and local level.

Every Clydesdale Bank branch will also receive a special first birthday pack from Help the Hospices, which includes cake recipes, party decorations and fundraising ideas, to celebrate the huge amount of money raised so far and to encourage future fundraising.