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



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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The LEGO Group welcomed the launch of a new three-year phase of the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) initiative focused on well-being centred digital game development practices, led by UNICEF and funded by the LEGO Foundation.


The initiative aims to advance industry awareness, embed children’s well-being into everyday digital game development practices, and support the adoption of child-centred design principles across the global gaming industry.


Building on three years of research and the development of the RITEC-8 framework and RITEC Design Toolbox, this next phase will focus on advancing awareness and adoption of approaches that embed children’s well-being across the gaming industry.


Through this renewed collaboration, RITEC will:


  • Convene gaming industry leaders and decision-makers to align on shared approaches to well-being in digital play

  • Translate research into practical tools, guidance and training pathways for developers and studios

  • Support the real-world implementation of child-centred design principles across digital play environments


With digital play becoming an increasingly significant part of childhood (nine in ten children play online games*), the LEGO Foundation has committed $4.9m to the next phase of RITEC. As a founding partner, the LEGO Group will contribute expertise and guidance from over 30 years of creating safe digital experiences for children.


Thomas Davin, Global Director, UNICEF Office of Innovation, said:

"The gaming industry reaches more children than almost any institution on earth. RITEC is how we work together to make sure that reach becomes an opportunity - designing children's well-being into every experience, where it belongs”.

Joe Savage, Head of Impact & Evidence at the LEGO Foundation, said:

"We believe that research should not stop at insight - it should shape how experiences are designed for children. Through this new phase of RITEC, we are proud to support partners working to embed evidence-based approaches into digital play, so more children can benefit from safe, inclusive and meaningful experiences.”

RITEC reflects a shared commitment among partners to advance children’s rights and well-being in digital spaces and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals by promoting responsible, child-centred innovation.


The LEGO Group co-founded RITEC with UNICEF in 2021, with funding from the LEGO Foundation. Earlier phases of the initiative included three years of research, which engaged thousands of children globally and led to the creation of practical tools to help designers foster outcomes such as autonomy, creativity, emotional regulation, safety and inclusion in digital play.


By supporting this next phase, the LEGO Group continues its commitment to help build a digital future where children everywhere can learn, create and thrive through play.



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