Gamekeepers’ charity cheer
Oncology ward sister Jayne Punton with gamekeepers (L-R) Lee Diamond, Mark Barker, George Thompson and Nigel Brooks.
A TEAM of gamekeepers who set out to raise £1,000 in aid of cancer charities surpassed all their expectations when they collected a staggering £30,000.
Jill and George Thompson, who are based near Pickering, held a charity auction, pub quiz, clay pigeon shoot and a sponsored ride for horse riders and mountain bikers.
“One of our close friends was treated for breast cancer at The James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough and we literally said if we could give you £1,000 who would you give it to and she said the breast cancer clinic at James Cook,” said Jil..
“We put an email out asking people if they had anything to give and we actually got 70 lots back.”
Bids came in for everything from fly fishing and grouse shooting to a day’s decorating and a light aircraft flight.
It was soon clear that the gamekeepers and their partners were going to raise much more than they had first anticipated.
Jill said: “It was amazing, it just snowballed. Gamekeepers and their partners who live and work on the North York Moors, along with many other friends and relatives, gave up their time to raise such a wonderful amount for such needy causes.”
The auction brought in more than £20,000.
Funds were boosted further by a clay pigeon shoot which was attended by 200 people, a charity ride, cake stalls and a pub quiz at the Blacksmiths Arms at Lastingham which brought in a whopping £10,000 to send the grand total soaring to £30,293.49.
George said because they raised so much they wanted to use the money to help more than one charity.
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, breast cancer services and the holistic cancer care centre at James Cook have each received a share of £20,000 while the remaining funds have been split equally between Teesside Hospice, Castle Hill Hospice and Yorkshire Cancer Research.
Mandy Headland, divisional manager for specialty medicine at James Cook, said: “This really is an amazing amount to raise and will help make a real difference to future cancer patients at James Cook. We would like to say a big thank you to the gamekeepers and their partners for their huge generosity.”
And Lynne Gray, deputy manager of the holistic cancer care centre said: “The centre is very grateful to everyone who helped to raise this wonderful amount of money. This donation will allow 200 complementary therapy treatments to be given to help patients and carers manage the physical and emotional side effects of a cancer diagnosis.”
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Friday 25 May 2012
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