Building society pledges support for North East hospice

A North East hospice is the latest charity to be boosted by a building society’s dedication to its community.

St Teresa’s Hospice, based in Darlington, has received £2,000 from a fund set up by Darlington Building Society to re-invest 5 per cent of all profits in local charities and good causes.

Jane Bradshaw, hospice chief executive, said: “Darlington Building Society have been staunch supporters of St Teresa’s since our formation 35 years ago, directly supporting the round-the-clock care the hospice provides to residents of Darlington and District.

“The 5 per cent pledge is a fantastic community initiative and the latest grant of £2,000 has enabled us to replace essential pressure-relieving mattresses in our In Patient Unit for the greater comfort of our patients.

“With the support of organisations like Darlington Building Society we have been able to continue offering pain and symptom management for patients in our purpose-built facility throughout the pandemic, reducing the burden on the NHS.”

The gift came at a difficult time for the charity, which has seen a major drop in revenue after cancelling fundraising events and closing charity shops because of Covid.

The donation also supported the charity’s community response team, which offers patients end-of-life care in their own homes, and helped develop a new online resource toolkit for patients and their families.

The donation is the latest gesture of support in a longstanding relationship between the organisations. Darlington Building Society has donated more than £100,000 to St Teresa’s and offers ‘staff volunteer hours’ if employees want to take time out from work to help the charity.

Darlington Building Society chief executive, Andrew Craddock said: “St Teresa’s Hospice has always been a cause close to the hearts of many of our staff members. It’s a pleasure to continue our ongoing support of a valuable local charity in this way, particularly during such difficult times.”