St Mary’s Hospice have received a donation of almost £3,000 in memory of a company’s colleague.

The team from national company, Spirit Energy, chose the Ulverston based hospice after colleague Sean Tyson sadly died at St Mary’s Hospice last year.

Funds were raised through a Christmas raffle that was launched in memory of Sean and then matched by Spirit Energy as part of the company’s culture of giving back and supporting employees and their families in times of need.

The £2,995 that was raised was presented last week when Sean’s wife Karen, along with some of his colleagues visited the hospice.

Craig Crawshaw, production supervisor at Spirit Energy, said: “It was fantastic to meet the special nurses and staff of St Mary’s Hospice today, who looked after and supported our colleague and friend Sean Tyson and family recently at a very difficult time.

“It was also a pleasure to be able to present the Hospice with a cheque for £2,955 on behalf of Spirit Energy in memory of Sean, the money was raised by hard working members of the sports and social team and the total raised, match funded by Spirit Energy.

“It was an honour to present the cheque with Sean’s wife Karen in attendance.”

This donation supports the hospices work as they are only partially supported by the NHS with the majority of funding coming from donations.

Annabelle Holloway, Corporate Partnerships Manager at St Mary’s Hospice, said: “It is incredibly heart-warming that the staff at Spirit Energy in Barrow have come together during such a hard time to raise money in memory of their beloved colleague, Sean Tyson.

“It is also very kind and compassionate of Spirit Energy to put their own money in to match fund the money raised by their staff.

“We only receive one fifth of our funding from the NHS which means that the care of eight out of ten of our patients, like Sean, are funded by generous donations such as this one.

“On behalf of everyone at St Mary’s Hospice, thank you so much.”

St Mary’s Hospice is an Ulverston based charity, which provides care to people with life-limiting conditions and their families from across South Cumbria, will use the money to provide hospice care to those in need.

For more information on how to donate or to get in touch head to the hospices website here.