Hill Valley Fundraising

5th August 2008

A luxury hotel has handed over cheques worth £3,000 to two local charities.

Back, from the left, Sue Braid (advanced
neonatal nurse practitioner at the Royal
Shrewsbury Hospital), Iain Gray (Macdonald
Hill Valley Hotel, Golf and Spa), Sue Ellis
(neonatal nurse manager at the Royal
Shrewsbury Hospital), Sara Thomas
(Macmillan Cancer Support), Lorraine Roscoe
(nursery nurse at the Royal Shrewsbury
Hospital). Front: Luke and Lindsay
Armstrong from Market Drayton with
their week-old with twins William and Joseph

The neonatal unit at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital received £1,000 and the Shropshire branch of Macmillan Cancer Support was presented with £2,000 after three fundraising events at the Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, Golf and Spa.

Generous members of staff, golfers and guests at the hotel in Tarporley Road, Whitchurch, boosted the funds of the two charities at the Sandy Lyle Golf Day, a VIP gala dinner and a bike ride.

The four-star hotel chose the neonatal unit after nurses and doctors cared for Zara Lowe, the baby of sales executive Kelly Lowe, who was born with a damaged pulmonary artery in her heart.

Sue Ellis, neonatal nurse manager at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, said: "We are extremely grateful for this kind donation from the staff and customers of the Hill Valley Hotel.

"It will help us to continue to develop our services for children and their families in Shropshire, Wrekin and Mid Wales."

Sara Thomas, Fundraising Manager in Shropshire for Macmillan Cancer Support, said every single penny raised would benefit local people.

"We are extremely grateful to the golfers who took part in the Sandy Lyle Golf Day and the gym staff who pedaled 140 miles on bikes in the hotel's health and fitness club to cover the length of the A49 which links Whitchurch to Shrewsbury," she said.

"Without the generosity of all the donations we receive we wouldn't be able to give the level of support that we provide to people living with cancer and their families."

Iain Gray, the general manager of the Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel Golf and Spa, said receptionist Tom Gregory had also been sponsored by colleagues to shave his head to take the tally to the £3,000 mark.

"We chose two local charities that carry out such great work as our charities to support this year," he said.

"Kelly and her husband, Darren, were grateful for all the help and support they received when their daughter spent her first few days in the neonatal unit and it was great to visit the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to see at first-hand the sterling work that is carried out there.

"I would like to thank everyone who made a donation to our fundraising efforts and I know the money is going to make a real difference to peoples' lives in the region."