The Severn Way fundraisers raise £12,000 for Severn Hospice

Morris Lubricants set out to complete The Severn Way long-distance footpath in seven different ways in 2013 & has raised £12,000 for the Severn Hospice in Shrewsbury.

Staff and friends from Morris Lubricants and Morris Leisure in Shrewsbury ended up completing the 229.9-mile course of the River Severn in 10 different ways.

The fundraising for their local hospice followed the fantastic £20,000 that the businesses raised for the Teenage Cancer Trust in 2012 by scaling the 64 ‘county tops’ of England, Wales, Scotland and the Isles of Wight and Man.

Next challenge is to fundraise for the Midlands and Wales Air Ambulance Services, the adopted charities in 2014. Plans are currently being formulated for a series of challenges during the year.

Staff and friends of the two companies completed The Severn Way by walking, running, swimming, cycling, riding on horseback, canoeing, coracling, kayaking, rafting and motorcycling.

The route began at the source of the River Severn on Plynlimon mountain near

Llanidloes in Mid Wales and ended at Bristol.

Managing director Andrew Goddard said it had been another memorable fundraising year, with a series of events linked to the River Severn, including a coracle challenge by chairman Gareth Jones and distribution manager Graham Fewtrell and a raft race.

“It was another fantastic effort by staff and friends to raise £12,000 for the Severn Hospice and we hope to raise another significant sum for the Midlands and Wales Air Ambulance Services this year.

“We chose the Severn Hospice as our adopted charity last year because it’s such a respected, local charity, which does fantastic work caring for people with life-limiting illnesses and also supporting their families.

“Equally, the Air Ambulance Services on both sides of the Welsh border do fantastic work, saving countless lives and we are delighted to be supporting them in 2014.”

Mike Perry, fundraising officer at Severn Hospice, said: “We are truly grateful to everyone at Morris Lubricants and Morris Leisure for raising such a fantastic amount of money to support the vital work of the hospice.

“It is only thanks to the generosity of others that we are able to care for the growing number of people from across Shropshire and Mid Wales at their time of greatest need.”

Severn Hospice is an independent charity, which relies on public fundraising for two-

thirds of its revenue. Since opening in 1989, the hospice has cared for more than 16,000 patients and now care for around 2,500 patients a year.