Charity fundraising by commercial vehicle bodybuilder Paneltex exceeds all expectations

Each year, leading commercial vehicle bodybuilder Paneltex commits to supporting a corporate charity and in 2011, Paneltex chose Dove House Hospice in Hull and in particular, its ‘Love you 2’ appeal, which is aiming to raise £2.5 million over a 2.5 year period to develop the hospice site.

At the beginning of last year, Paneltex targeted to raise around £2500 towards the appeal, however such was the enthusiasm of the Paneltex staff towards this chosen charity that the range of fundraising events undertaken over the 12-month period actually generated a massive £6874.91, clearly exceeding all expectations.

At a ceremony held recently at the Paneltex head office in Hull, Chris Berridge, managing director of Paneltex presented the charity cheque to Andrew Mould, vice-chairman of the Appeal Business Committee at Dove House Hospice.

At the presentation, Chris Berridge said, "As a major employer within the Hull and East Riding area, we were keen to support a local deserving charity and Dove House Hospice is a truly worthwhile organisation playing a vital role in our local community. It has pleased me enormously that we have been able to hand over a substantial cheque that was well in excess of our original estimation."

During the year, money was raised through coin collections and an initial donation from Paneltex, as well as money given by individual staff members participating in sponsored outdoor events such as ‘The Great North Run’ and ‘The Three Peaks Challenge’.

Dove House in Hull is a charity providing excellent care for people in the local community with life limiting illnesses and it is the only adult hospice in the area serving a population of 325,000. The Hospice desperately needs to extend its facilities to meet current demands and launched the ‘Love you 2’ appeal to raise £2.5 million towards the re-development of the hospice site. To date, donations received by Dove House Hospice as a result of this Appeal have generated over £950,000 towards the final total.