St Mary’s Hospice is celebrating after receiving a donation of almost £3,000 to help continue its work within the community.

The team at Spirit Energy kindly chose the Ulverston based hospice to receive the funds raised from their Christmas raffle. The raffle was launched in memory of Sean Tyson, a colleague at Spirit Energy who sadly died at St Mary’s Hospice last year.

This support ensures that others can receive the same compassionate care that Sean did. Spirit Energy, where Sean spent his professional life, played a crucial role in this charitable effort.

The company’s culture of giving back and supporting employees and their families in times of need shines through this initiative. The 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.

In total, £2,995 was raised. Last week, Sean’s wife Karen, along with some of his colleagues visited the hospice to hand over the money.

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.”

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.”