Burnley firm's Charity Ball raises over £6,000 for Pendleside Hospice

Petty Estate Agents, who have offices in Burnley and Colne, held the event as the culmination of their Pendleside Hospice Corporate Challenge and to celebrate a couple of very special milestones in what is their 90th year and the hospices’ 30th.

“It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss with us both celebrating a significant milestone in the same year and we wanted to mark the occasion with a big party, which is what we did!" said Simon Westwell, Lettings Director at Petty’s and one of the event organisers. “We’ve been absolutely blown away by people’s generosity and have raised double what we expected.

"There were lots of local companies who attended and who donated very generous raffle and auction prizes and it’s because of great local companies like these and our loyal customers that the Petty name is still around after 90 years," Simon added. "We’re extremely humbled and proud of that fact.”

Petty has held various events to mark their 90th anniversary and have tied the majority in with fund raising for the hospice, including selling cakes at the Pendle Pub Walk, running the 10k, and their Trig Point Challenge, which saw them donate £1 for every picture sent to their Facebook page at the trig point at the area’s most iconic landmark, Pendle Hill.

With £3m of the hospice's annual £4m running costs raised locally though individual and organised fundraising initiatives, Chief Executive of Pendleside Hospice Helen McVey said: "2018 is a very special year for us here at Pendleside Hospice as we celebrate 30 years since the hospice was founded.

"The late Muriel Jobling MBE, the founding chairman of the hospice said ‘the hospice was built by the community for the community’, and without the support of our local community we wouldn’t be able to continue to deliver the care to the people who need our support," Helen added.

"Support from the community and local businesses like Petty is vital in helping us keep the hospice going and allowing us to continue the important work the hospice does in helping people living with life-limiting illnesses.”