Pooley’s family fun day raises over £4,000 for Springhill Hospice

Photo: Peter Butterworth

Family Fun Day

A family fun day held by Graham Poole Transport raised £4,225 for Springhill Hospice.

The event, which was held during the May bank holiday weekend, saw over 1,000 people walk through the company’s gates to raise money for the Hospice.

Graham Poole, Managing Director of Graham Poole Transport, said: “The event went exceptionally well. The response was amazing and everyone who attended said how much they enjoyed it and asked if we would be holding the event again.”

The event included a car boot sale, stalls for children and adults, a truck pull race, a reversing challenge, live music and refreshments throughout the day.

For the first event of its kind, Graham was impressed with the fundraising total reached by the event. He said: “The event raised an incredible £4,225, which is amazing for the first event of this kind held by our company.”

Graham decided to raise money for the Hospice after a family member fell ill. Graham’s Niece Kelly was diagnosed with cancer in November 2012 and was given 12-18 months to live. By August 2013, Kelly was being cared for the Hospice at Home team.

Graham said: “I cannot praise them enough for what they did for Kelly during her final days, nothing was too much trouble and without them Kelly would certainly have suffered a lot more than she did.”

Sadly, Kelly died peacefully at home on 5 September 2013 aged 37.

Graham added: “I vowed then that I would do whatever I could to help Springhill Hospice to be able to continue with the fantastic work that they do for our community.

"Our business is based in a large yard and proved to be an ideal location to hold an event of this kind.”

Alison McGuigan, Fundraising Lead at Springhill Hospice, said "It was a fantastic day. The event took place in and around the warehouses so it made no difference whether it rained or not.

"Support from local businesses like Graham Poole Transport is invaluable to the work of Springhill Hospice."

It is now hoped that the event will become an annual event held by the company.

“I fully intend to hold this event annually on the first Bank Holiday weekend in May. Next year will hopefully be bigger and better,” said Graham.