Nexus staff have raised more than £5,000 for St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle.
A series of fundraising events – including a sale of unclaimed Metro lost property - were held by Nexus employees after the organisation adopted St Oswald’s as its chosen charity for the year.
Nexus, the public body which owns and manages the Tyne and Wear Metro, worked closely with St Oswald’s on the Great North Snowdogs project in 2016 – Tyneside’s biggest ever mass participation public art event.
And it was through that scheme that the Nexus staff were inspired to do some fundraising for the hospice, which provides vital care and support for people with incurable conditions.
As well as the Metro lost property auction the fundraising also involved bake sales and a raffle.
The money was officially handed over to the staff at St Oswald’s on Thursday 12 October. It will go towards the day-to-day running costs of the hospice.
Managing Director of Nexus, Tobyn Hughes, said: “The staff at Nexus were so happy to be part of the Great North Snowdogs event that they made St Oswald’s their chosen charity for the year.
“Staff have spent the whole year raising funds in a variety of different ways, from bake competitions, to raffles, and even auctioning lost property.
“We’re really pleased to be able to give this money to the hospice. It was all raised through the effort of our staff and it can be used to contribute to St Oswald’s running costs.”
Jane Hogan, from St Oswald’s Business Partnership Team, said: “We’re thrilled to be able to work further with Nexus after the success of the Snowdogs event.
“All donations are really important to the hospice and the thing that is so great about this one is that it’s very generous and will allow us to pay for 260 hours of nursing support.
“This is a revenue donation that we can put toward the running costs of the hospice. Typically people want to see a thing they have paid for, so it’s really special for us that we can just put it towards keeping the place open and paying for our nurses.”
The Tyne and Wear Metro was a principal sponsor and presenting partner of the Snowdog trail in 2016, and played a vital role in helping people to explore it.
The colourful Snowdog trail saw 61 individually designed Snowdog sculptures displayed in local parks and open spaces - and almost all are were in easy reach of a Metro station.
Great North Snowdogs was inspired by Raymond Briggs’ classic animated short film The Snowman™ and The Snowdog.