Garden Centres Raises More Than £100K For Martin House Children’s Hospice

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Yorkshire Garden Centres has reached a major fundraising milestone after raising more than £106,000 for Martin House Children’s Hospice since the partnership began in April 2025.

Across its seven branches, colleagues and customers have thrown themselves behind the partnership, from bake sales and raffles to running, cycling and dragon boat racing. Each branch has its own charity champion and fundraising target, while the Pennies initiative gives customers the option to add 25p to their purchase at the checkout.

Staff have taken on individual challenges, including Dry January and the Great North Run, while CEO Mark Farnsworth has organised and joined cycling challenges. Colleagues also entered two sunflower-themed teams into Martin House’s Dragon Boat Race and took part in an in-store spinathon, cycling the equivalent distance from their stores to the hospice.

Last year, the company played a major part in Martin House’s 36-hour giving challenge for THE BUILD, raising more than £7,000.

Support has gone beyond fundraising too. Staff have donated items to Martin House’s retail team, contributed prizes to the Glitter Ball auction and donated Lego to the hospice. The company has also provided table centres for Martin House Ladies’ Lunches and welcomed children and families to Christmas events and the opening of its Otley Grass Hopper play centre. The partnership will run until June 2027.

Mark Farnsworth, CEO of Yorkshire Garden Centres, said:

“Reaching more than £100,000 is a fantastic milestone and is down to the enthusiasm of our colleagues, customers and charity champions across all seven of our centres.”

“Martin House does incredible work for children and families across Yorkshire, and our teams have really embraced the partnership. Whether it’s taking on a personal challenge, jumping into a dragon boat or simply asking customers to add 25p at the till, everyone has found their own way to get involved.”

“We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together so far and look forward to continuing our support.”

Hannah Finan, Partnership Manager at Martin House, said:

“We’re hugely grateful to everyone at Yorkshire Garden Centres for reaching this incredible milestone. What makes the partnership so special is the sheer variety of ways their teams have chosen to support us. From major fundraising challenges to donations, events and welcoming the families we support, their commitment has reached right across Martin House."

“More than £106,000 is an amazing achievement and will make a real difference to the children, young people and families who rely on our care.”

Each year, Martin House supports more than 550 children and young people with life-shortening conditions, and their families, across West, North and East Yorkshire.

Its specialist teams provide care at the hospice in Boston Spa, in hospitals and in families’ own homes, including planned short breaks, symptom management, emergency care and end-of-life care.

Providing this specialist care costs Martin House around £13 million every year, with the majority coming from voluntary donations and fundraising.

For further information about Martin House Children's Hospice and how to support it, visit here.

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Oct 30, 2023

2 min read

Contractor Clegg Construction has been appointed to deliver a multi-million-pound refurbishment at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Leeds.

Work has just started on site at the prominent hotel on the corner of Lower Briggate and Swinegate, which will be operated by Belfont Hotels.

The design and build project will modernise the building and includes the refurbishment of existing bedrooms, as well as creating new bedrooms, to take the total number of guest rooms to 108. It also involves modernising ground floor function rooms, the restaurant and bar, as well as the installation of new windows and renovations to the roof and elevations.

Clegg Construction pre-construction director, Ross Crowcroft, said: “We are very pleased to have started on site to refurbish and modernise one of the most iconic hotels in Leeds city centre."

“This refurbishment of the Cosmopolitan Hotel for Belfont Hotels will upgrade a landmark building in the heart of Leeds and turn it into a leading hospitality venue which will be perfect for both leisure and corporate demand."

“Clegg Construction is extremely familiar with the area around The Cosmopolitan Hotel, as we are currently on site at Spinners Yard in Regent Street delivering a 185-apartment private rented scheme for Rise Homes, plus we are working on an 11-storey student accommodation development in Leylands Road.”

Other members of the development team include project manager Edmond Shipway, architect Franklin Ellis and engineer Rodgers Leask.

Work is expected to be completed in the spring of 2025.

The scheme is the latest in a long line of hotel projects undertaken by Clegg Construction, including the Travelodge London Stockley Park Hayes hotel, which was completed in 2021, and a new Premier Inn in York which is currently being built. In Leeds, Clegg Construction delivered the external recladding of the Premier Inn Leeds City Centre Arena hotel in 2021 and the creation of the Premier Inn Leeds Headingly Hotel (constructed on top of the Arndale shopping centre) in 2017.

Keval Thakerar and Akshay Dhamecha, directors at Belfont Hotels, commented: “We are excited to be working with Clegg Construction on this refurbishment that will see the Cosmopolitan Hotel repositioned as one of Leeds City Centre’s leading hotels, benefitting the local economy and community.”

Clegg Construction is a Midlands, East Anglia, and Yorkshire-based construction firm specialising in the delivery of public and private sector projects.

The company works with organisations of all sizes and specialities across a range of different sectors.

For more information visit www.cleggconstruction.co.uk

Photo Credit: Franklin Ellis Architects

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Garden Centres Raises More Than £100K For Martin House Children’s Hospice

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